The Hunter
by purplepidgioncommandbase
Summary: They thought it was over. They thought they were safe. They were wrong. The Hunter is coming back to Vegas and he brings with him vengence. Now Greg and Nick must return to the pack they thought they had left behind in order to survive. AU Slash Mpreg War
1. Chapter 1

**Thanks for the motivation and support Holly!**

_Disclaimer=sadly I own nothing but the storyline and my original characters._

**The man ran the knife along the sharpening board, blood dripping onto the termite infested floor from his bloody hands from one of his several killings that day. He showed no remorse as he took the time to wipe the blood off his hands onto his already bloody apron, stained with victims of the past.**

**His face was neutral as he finished sharpening the knife, which had an intricate design on the handle of a decapitated wolf and a hunter standing over it.**

**Walking over to a table that had a large assortment of other weapons that ranged from guns to crossbows, he wiped the knife on his apron before laying the deadly weapon with its other deadly brothers. A bubbling concoction hanging over an open fire was the color of silver and smelled of rancid vegetables, but the chef didn't seem to mind the smell. He was more use to it from creating it so many times.**

**A timer went off and the man walked over to the bubbling concoction with an oven mitt in hand he picked the cauldron like container up, and carried it away from the licking flames of the fire. He set the container down on an old wooden table that had various scratches and nicks from knifes and other weapons hard at work on various tasks.**

**Picking up a bullet mold for one of his various guns, he picked up a ladle and poured the solution into the mold for six bullets then closed the molding case and walked over to the fire. With a special spick he connected the end of the spick to the container and held the mold over the fire for 2 seconds before he carried the extremely hot mold to a bucket of ice water. He held the mold down in the water for 2 seconds, watching as it steamed and sizzled up from the water. He then took the steaming mold back over to the old wooden table and released the mold on to a protected surface. **

**Taking the oven mitts off the man pulled on another pair of gloves and pried the lid off the mold, reaching inside the mold to pick up one of the bullets. He brought the gleaming bullet up to eyelevel, which sparkled from the firelight, causing a crooked smile to erupt from his lips.**

**"I'm coming back!" He said to an invisible audience. **

The mist that was clouding Greg's eyes seeped back into his irises as he gasped. He fell out of the chair he was sitting in, landing with a hard 'thud' on the lab floor, earning him stares from the other lab rats. The papers he had been going through fluttered to the ground next to him. He ran a shaking hand through his untamable spiky blond hair and took in deep ragged breaths, trying to get his heart rate back to normal.

When his heart rate was at a safe level, he shakily began gathering the papers up, setting them back in a neat pile on his desk. Once all the papers were picked up, he pushed himself up from the floor, his vision swayed and he was light headed from getting up too fast. Steadying his stance by planting his hands on his desk and craning his head down with his eyes closed breathing in through his nose.

"No, no, no, no, no you can't be back. It's too soon." He shook his head then opened his eyes and reached into his jean's pocket for his phone. Going straight through his contacts, he chose #1 and brought the phone to his ear.

"Stokes."

"Get back to the lab, now." Greg said huskily, wiping the sweat away from his brow before it fell into his eyes.

Before Nick had a chance to ask why, Greg hung up on him and dropped the phone on his desk, collapsing in his chair. He brought his hands up to his face and dragged them down his terrified face. He looked up at the ceiling and spoke. "Why now?"

Nick lowered the phone away from his ear and stared at the device, perplexed and worried about what had just occurred.

Sara stopped collecting the samples of blood from the lampshade when she saw Nick's perplexed expression and his clenched jaw; a thing he did when he was deep in thought.

"Nick?" She asked, standing upright.

Nick was startled by the sudden noise and looked over at her, pocketing his phone.

"Sara, do you think you can finish up here? I have to get back to the lab." He said in a daze, already having his keys out.

"Sure...what's going on?" she asked, walking towards him.

"Greg just called and said I needed to get back to the lab. I don't know why but he sounded...off and I just..." Nick couldn't explain it, but he felt like he needed to be close to Greg or something bad was going to happen.

"You don't need to explain Nick; I'll see you back at the lab. Find out what's going on, I'll finish up here." Sara gave him a tight smile then turned and got back to work.

"Thanks Sara." He turned and walked over to the door, opening the door he walked out and nodded to one of the deputies who nodded back.

Hurrying over to his car he ducked under the police tape and stashed his field kit in the back then walked around the car and got in the driver's seat. As calmly as possible he pulled away from the crime scene and drove back to the lab.

Greg got up from his desk and walked down to the break room to get his bottle of water out of the community fridge. Entering the room he saw Archie sitting at the table tapping away on his computer, most likely working on security footage from the bar where a woman was killed. He didn't know much about the case because it was Ecklie's case and he was as open about his cases as nightshift was, and he also just really didn't like Greg, probably because he was friends with everyone on nightshift and was also dating the nightshift's golden boy, Nick Stokes.

"Hey man." Greg said, walking over to the fridge and got out his bottle of water, uncapping it and taking a large gulp.

"Hey. Water huh? I thought you would be downing the rest of your coffee?" Archie asked curiously, looking up from his laptop.

"I haven't been feeling too good and the coffee hasn't been agreeing with me lately." Greg sat down across from Archie and took another drink of his water before capping the bottle, setting it down in front of him.

"Do you think you need to go to the doctor?" Archie asked, genuinely concerned about his friend's health.

"Nah, it's probably just a bug that's going around." Greg licked his lips and turned his head to look at the door, tapping his foot on the floor in anticipation of Nick's arrival. The truth was Greg had been waking up in the middle of the night and puking his guts out; thankfully Nick was such a heavy sleeper that he didn't even hear Greg whip out of bed or the flushing of the toilet. He had a pretty good idea of what was going on, but he couldn't go to a regular doctor, and the doctor he needed to see was all the way out in the desert and he didn't want Nick to know until he was sure, so going to the doctor was out of the question.

Archie picked up on his friend's anxiety and spoke his thoughts aloud.

"Something going on?" he asked, closing his laptop.

Greg turned back to him and gave Archie a shaky smile.

"What? No, everything's great man, just waiting for Nick to come back. I have some results for him." Greg fibbed, hoping Archie would drop it. Thankfully Archie did just that and opened his laptop to go back to work.

Greg internally sighed in relief and went back to watching the door.

It wasn't five minutes later that Nick arrived, practically barreling down the hallway and in his haste to find his lover accidentally bumped into some people. When he didn't find Greg in his lab he assumed he was in the break room so that's where he was headed. He slowed down when he saw Greg sitting in the break room playing with his water bottle's cap and when he noticed Nick approaching he set the cap down and stood up from the table.

Nick entered the break room and walked right up to Greg. Concern evident in his eyes from the distressed message he had gotten from Greg.

"What's going on?" he asked, placing his hands on Greg's shoulder, looking deep into his eyes to make sure that Greg couldn't lie to him because when it came to lying Greg would always give himself away with his eyes.

"Let's talk in my lab." Greg whispered in Nick's ear, not wanting Archie to overhear who was very poorly hiding the fact that he was trying to listen in on their conversation.

Nick nodded and took his hands away from Greg's shoulders.

Greg took Nick's hand and led him out of the break room, down the hallway and back into his lab where he closed the door behind him. Turning to face Nick he walked over to him and planted his hands on the desk beside where Nick was leaning.

"He's back Nick, he's coming back and he's planning something, something big." Greg looked up at Nick and saw the horror shining in his eyes.

"The hunter." he whispered, as if it were the most vile explicit he ever uttered, which to their kind it was.

Nick ran a hand down his face and looked up at the ceiling.

"Did you see where he was at?" Nick asked, after a few minutes had gone by.

"It was some kind of cabin and from what I saw Nick, he's getting ready for a war." Greg answered, sitting down in his chair.

Nick got up from the table and started pacing the room, trying to come up with a way to keep Greg and him safe. The hunter hadn't been around for over a century, ever since he was fought off in the Nevada Desert half a century ago by their ancestors.

"We have to warn the others Nick. I know we didn't part with them on the best of terms but they need to know." Greg reasoned, knowing how seeing the pack again would affect his mate.

With a sigh Nick nodded his head and turned to face his mate.

"I'm going to go talk to Grissom, request some time off for the both of us. I'll tell him that...that...I'll think of something," and with that Nick cupped Greg's cheek, leaned in and kissed him then pulled away and walked out of the lab.

Greg got up from the chair and got his cell phone out of his desk. He stuck it in his pocket then left the lab as well. Walking down the hallway he turned the corner just in time to see Nick enter Grissom's office. Greg shook his head and scowled, angry at the hunter for choosing now to come back! He and Nick had been through so much this year with Nick's stalker and Greg being in the explosion, they deserved some happiness in their lives, not more sorrow and trouble!

Nick entered Grissom's office and cleared his throat to get his supervisor's attention. Grissom looked up from the case file and noticed Nick standing in the doorway, looking a little nervous.

"What is it Nick?" Grissom asked, setting his case file down and giving Nick his full attention.

"Grissom, Greg and I need to have some time off, you see my sister was in an accident and my family really needs me back home and I really need Greg down there with me so-" Nick was rambling now, and the way he was avoiding eye contact Grissom knew that he was lying.

"What's really going on Nick?" he asked patiently.

Nick swallowed and took a seat in the chair in front of him.

"Griss...something bad is going on with our families and we need to be there for them and if you say no then I'll remind you that Greg and I have at least three weeks of overtime combined and we want to use those days to spend with our families." Nick said, now staring full on at Grissom with dead seriousness in his eyes. Grissom was aware of the two men's overtime hours and he knew that he couldn't deny them their time off but he was curious as to why Nick wasn't giving him the direct answer as to why they needed the time off. And this troubled him.

Nick waited patiently for Grissom's response, wringing his hands in his lap nervously, desperately wanting to get out of this stuffy office and back to Greg. With the hunter coming back Nick was growing more anxious the longer he was away from his mate; he needed to get back to Greg, needed to protect him. That was his job.

Nick was taken out of his thoughts when Grissom spoke, having come to a decision.

"I'll give you and Greg the time off, but you have to tell me why you lied to me." Grissom bargained.

A bark of laughter filled with disbelief fell from Nick's mouth and he stared at his boss in disbelief.

"I'll see you in three weeks Griss." Nick stood up from the chair and walked out of the office, ignoring Grissom's calls for him to come back. He knew he would have to explain his actions when he got back but for the moment he needed to be near Greg.

Greg shut his locker and pulled on his jacket, buttoning up the buttons on his jacket subconsciously. He jumped when arms wrapped around his waist, but relaxed when he recognized the intoxicating smell of his mate and the silver ring, which was part of the story of why Nick was against seeing the pack again.

"C'mon let's get out of here, Grissom is probably looking for me and I wasn't exactly on my best behavior when we parted." Releasing Greg he took his hand and pulled Greg out of the locker room, not even bothering to open his own locker because he already had his own keys and wallet on him because he had been called in from their house and hadn't had the time to drop them off in his locker.

The two walked past the break room and didn't stop to talk to Warrick who was about to ask Nick a question, but they blew him off and continued walking towards the exit. Walking out of the building they entered the lab parking lot and head straight over to Nick's truck. Greg had driven in his own car because Nick was supposed to have the day off but had been called in. He would get his car when they returned to the lab.

"Are you ready for this?" Greg asked, as Nick started the engine.

"No, but then again I'll never be ready." Putting the truck in drive Nick pulled out of his parking spot and drove out of the lot into the busy road of Las Vegas.

**A/N: There's the beginning. I hope you continue to read because I can assure you that much more is on the way. Please review, it inspires me to write faster and it will also help me not feel like I'm just writing for my beta and myself. Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the help Holly!**

They drove down the busy streets of Las Vegas, the radio was turned off and the only noise was the sound of the air conditioner and the honking of angry drivers. Nick slowed down when he came to a nightclub called 'moonlight', parking in an empty spot. Getting out of the car they walked up to the bouncer that was standing in front of a black velvet rope, keeping clubbers from entering. To get into the club you needed to have certain 'qualities' and if you didn't have them you weren't getting in.

The bouncer was a burly guy, slicked black hair, deeply tanned skin and he was wearing a classic black suit with a purple undershirt. He noticed them walking up to him and held out his hand to stop them. This was of course expected, seeing as how they hadn't been around the club a lot and he didn't know their scents.

Looking at them from arms length he assessed them then very discreetly inhaled their scents and his eyes widened when he recognized the unique scents of a seer and a very powerful bloodline. Lowering his arms and ceasing eye contact, he opened the door for them and gestured them inside.

"Sorry for keeping you, the boss will want to see you." said the bouncer, avoiding eye contact with them, afraid of being punished for his mistake.

"It's okay; you don't need to be afraid." Nick assured him. The bouncer cautiously looked up, shocked that he was being treated with such sincerity for what he had done.

"Thank you sir, I assure you it won't happen again." he gave them a genuine smile then turned back with his no-nonsense look and crossed his arms, going back to keeping non-pack members out. You would think with this rule that the club would go out of business, but there were so many pack members in Las Vegas that the club was able to keep afloat and also, there were nights where humans were allowed in the club, but the owner mainly did that just so he wouldn't gain a bad view from the public for only allowing 'approved people' into the club.

Nick and Greg entered the club and were bombarded by loud music, flashing lights and the pulsating bodies jumping on the dance floor. Greg felt Nick take his hand then they started the troubling task of walking through the mob of people to get to the bar. They had to walk through some couples who were about to voice their displeasures but their mouths were immediately shut when the light captured Nick's face and his eyes glowed a dangerous yellow and a growl reverberated from deep within Nick's throat, warning them to back off. Not wanting to lose their lives they backed off and went back to dancing.

After having made his point Nick once again pulled Greg along and they finally made it to the bar. One of the many bartenders finished preparing a drink for a customer and walked over to them.

"What can I get you gentlemen?" he asked, picking up a dirty glass and started washing it with a rag.

Nick leaned forward to speak to the bartender while Greg took a seat on a barstool and looked around at the lively club. There were over a hundred pack members, jumping and gyrating to the beat of the music, seeming to be lost in their own worlds. They had no idea of the nightmare that was coming.

"I need to speak with Elliot, its urgent. Tell him Nick Stokes and Greg Sanders need to talk to him, now." Nick insisted.

The bartender stopped washing the glass and set it down on the counter behind him then turned around to face Nick again.

"Look man, Elliot doesn't like to be bothered by anyone, so I would just order some drinks and enjoy the music." he advised.

At hearing this Greg turned to face the bartender and that was when the light caught his eyes just right to reveal them to be icy blue. The bartender froze in shock, not realizing who he had been talking to.

"Y-y-you're a s-s-seer." he stuttered. Greg stood up from the stool and leaned across the counter so the bartender and him were face to face.

"We need to talk to Elliot, now!" Greg ordered, staring the man down. Greg's eyes were still retaining their icy blue and a low growl had erupted from his chest. Meaning he meant business. The bartender nodded jerkily and backed away from the two wolves in front of him.

"I'll be right back." he tripped over his own two feet as he walked out from behind the bar. They watched as he ran up a flight of stairs, leading to a room, most likely Elliot's office, that overlooked the entire club.

When the bartender was gone Greg took a deep breath and tried to calm his wolf self down. He had no idea why he had such a strong reaction but it could possibly be from the adrenaline coursing through his veins since finding out about the hunter's return. Greg closed his eyes and gripped the countertop, breathing in and out. A pair of familiar strong arms encircled his waist and he opened his eyes to reveal them to be back to their original brown.

"You need to calm down babe. Usually I'm the one havin' to be controlled." Nick whispered in his ear, placing a gentle kiss on his neck.

"Sorry, I don't know what got into me." Greg admitted.

"It's okay, we all lose control sometimes. It's just a part of our nature." Nick assured him. Greg nodded then leant his head back and rested his it on Nick's shoulder.

The door to the office opened and Elliot with his two body guards behind and in front of him trudged down the stairs and made their way to the bar.

Elliot had dark brown hair, almost black, that was styled down with gel giving it a slick look, he was at least 5'9, not too much muscle but enough that you could tell he could handle himself in a fight. Lightly tanned skin that showed that he didn't go out in the sun too often, his eyes were the color of moss, compelling to look at and could suck you in if you're not careful. He was wearing a black Italian suit with a blue silk tie and to top off the look black Italian shoes.

They stopped in front of Nick and Greg and Elliot's bodyguards stood on both sides of Elliot, crossing their arms and staring Nick and Greg down, trying to intimidate them.

"Nicholas, it's been a long time. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Elliot asked with false cheerfulness very evident. Elliot loathed Nicholas for the choices he had made, especially leaving the pack when they needed Nick the most.

"Hello Elliot, I see you've gotten into the club business. Kind of a cheesy name don't ya think?" Nick commented, knowing it would anger Elliot.

Elliot put on a tight smile, and bit his tongue to stop the retort that wanted to spew forth.

"I was told you needed to speak to me." he said, through his tight smile. Going into business mode now.

Nick looked around the club, at all the dancing wolves then at the two bodyguards and finally back on Elliot.

"I think it would be better if we spoke somewhere more private." he said quietly.

Elliot looked at his two guards and they seemed to have a private conversation before coming to a conclusion and looking back at Nick.

"Follow me, we can talk in my office." turning around Elliot and his bodyguards walked away from Nick and Greg. Taking Greg's hand Nick followed the three other wolves and made their way through the pulsing crowds of dancers to the staircase leading to Elliot's office.

When they reached the staircase Elliot stopped, abruptly stopping the people behind him and turned to speak to his bodyguards.

"Roy, Marcus how about you two stand guard down here. Don't let anyone up here until I give you the clear." he spoke to his guards then directed his attention to Nick and Greg.

"I figured it would be best if we didn't have too big of an audience." Elliot explained as they climbed the steps. Nick looked at the back of Elliot's head suspiciously, years of not trusting the guy making him very untrustworthy to Nick.

They entered the office and Greg, being the last one to enter, closed the door behind him. Elliot walked over to his desk, a midnight black that had a computer on it, an ash tray with a dying cigarette, a bottle of scotch and a glass of scotch on a coaster. There was a painting of a wolf howling at a moon on the wall behind the desk, a book case with all sorts of books ranging from business ethics to how to prepare the perfect drink. On the left side there was a plush leather couch with a close up on an eclipse and there were two ruby red balloon chairs, as they were called, positioned in front of the desk.

"Please take a seat. Do you want a drink?" he asked, as he poured himself a fresh glass of scotch. Nick and Greg walked over to the chairs and sat down.

"No thanks, scotch isn't really my drink of choice." Nick replied.

Elliot looked at Greg.

"How 'bout you Greg? A little something to wet your whistle?" he asked.

"Nah, I'm not a big alcohol fan." Greg declined.

"Suit yourselves." bringing the glass to his lips, he took a huge gulp of the liquor then gently placed the glass back down. Sighing in satisfaction.

"What do you two need to tell me?" he asked, leaning back in his chair.

Greg took the initiative and leaned forward in his chair and spoke.

"The hunters coming back Elliot, and we need your help to alert the others before it's too late." Greg spoke.

The calm and collected look on Elliot's face vanished and in its place was disbelief and worry.

"That's impossible! The hunter hasn't been seen for over a century! Why would he suddenly decide to show up now?" Elliot questioned. Not ready to believe that the pack's worst nightmare was coming back.

"I had a vision Elliot. He was making weapons, enough for an army and he distinctly said, and I quote **'I'm coming back!'** he wants revenge Elliot, I could see it in his eyes." Greg insisted, now on the very edge of his seat.

"Greg's visions have saved our pack thousands of times before, he's never been wrong. We need to alert the council and the pack members so we can prepare for what is to come." Nick added, taking Greg's hand in support.

Elliot stood up from his desk and walked over to the window that looked out over the club. Nick stood up from his chair, while Greg stayed seated in his, and walked over to stand on the right of Elliot.

"The longer we delay tellin' them, the worst the outcome will be. They have to know Elliot and I know that you want what's best for the pack and in order to do that you need to get off your high pedestal and tell them the truth." Nick insisted, looking down at the dancing wolves below.

"It could have been a fluke, a daydream! People have daydreams all the time." he tried to reason, but by the sound of his voice he didn't believe himself.

Elliot pressed his head against the glass and sighed in resignation.

"The council isn't going to like this." he muttered. Stepping away from the glass, Elliot reached into his pocket and dialed a number he knew by heart. He brought the phone to his ear and waited for someone to pick up.

On the third ring there was an answer.

"Georgina, this is Elliot. I need you to set up a meeting with the council...A seer has come to me and is telling me that he had a vision of the hunter coming back...yes, thank you. Goodbye." Elliot ended the call and pocketed the phone.

"We have a meeting with the council in an hour." Elliot said, looking at Nick. Greg was now up from his chair and walked over to stand beside Nick who once again took his hand.

"You're going with us?" Greg questioned, surprised that Elliot didn't want to stay to attend to his club.

"Of course I am! I gave Georgina my name and since I'm the one who called to request the meeting their going to expect me to be there." Elliot walked away from them and over to his desk, opening one of the drawers he searched around for something.

He had to lean over when he got further back in the drawer but when he felt what he was looking for he exclaimed in triumph and pulled the item out. The item he was looking for turned out to be a ring, similar to Nick's only it was bronze. Placing the ring on his left middle finger Elliot led them out of his office and back down the flight of stairs where his bodyguards were standing obediently.

"I'm going for a drive boys, keep an eye on the club while I'm gone and I want regular rounds around the bar area, I don't want another bar fight like the last time." he instructed, walking past the guards. Roy and Marcus nodded their heads in understanding, also not wanting a repeat of last time because Roy had ended up with a broken nose and Marcus a dislocated shoulder.

The three walked out of the club and down the sidewalk towards the private parking lot behind the club.

"I'm going to warn you guys now, the council isn't going to be happy about this sudden meeting, especially with you Nick, last I heard they were still pretty pissed off about the choice you made." Elliot warned, stopped in front of a red Cadillac.

"Well I wasn't exactly expecting to be welcomed back in open arms." Nick replied, waiting for Elliot to unlock the doors. When the locks clicked Nick opened the back door and slid inside, Greg immediately joining him, closing the door behind him. Elliot slunk into the driver's seat and slammed the door behind him.

"Mind if I put a little music on? Silence drives me crazy," without waiting for an answer he switched the radio on and out blasted 'Back in Black' which Elliot turned up the volume and started tapping his fingers on the steering wheel and singing along to the song.

It amazed Nick and Greg that he could go from completely freaking out to acting like everything was just perfect. Elliot looked up at the mirror and saw their confused expression and smiled, knowing why they were like that.

"Oh trust me guys I am freaking out, I'm just really good at hiding it." he told them, returning his eyes to the road.

There was silence in the car for a few blocks before Elliot spoke again.

"So, how has life been treating the two of you?" he asked, trying to make conversation.

Greg was the one who spoke this time.

"Great, Nick and I moved into an apartment together and we're thinking about getting a dog." Greg said, watching the lights of Vegas blur around them.

There was more silence that followed and soon the lights of Vegas were behind them and they were surrounded by the desert. They continued to drive until they came to a dirt road that would have been invisible if you weren't looking for it.

Stopping the car everyone got out and stood in front of the path.

"Let's start walking." Elliot said, walking forward. Nick and Greg walked behind him.

It had been a while, five years to be exact since the last time Greg and Nick had been on this road and just looking up at the moon that was spotlighting their path and the urge to change was almost too much but they managed to bite that urge back down and continue on the path in their human forms.

Elliot took a quick look behind him and saw the longing in their eyes; he smirked and shook his head. "How long has it been since you two changed?" he asked, figuring it had to have been a while.

"A few months, we just haven't had the time. Too many cases that have to get solved." Nick answered, taking another look up at the moon.

"Damn! I can hardly hold out for a week!" Elliot exclaimed, not being able to imagine keeping the need under wraps that long.

"We've had practice." Greg muttered, keeping his head to the ground, wanting to keep the moon out of his line of vision. Unlike Nick, who had a better control of himself Greg was constantly battling with his wolf. Once while he was in the lab he was processing a blood sample and Judy walked in with a message for him, that day she had been wearing her crescent moon necklace, a gift for her birthday from her cousin, and with a simple glance at that necklace he could feel his wolf rearing up inside and it took all his control not to strip right there and change. Luckily she didn't notice anything and continued on her way.

He had been ashamed of himself. A simple necklace had given him the urge, a necklace! How pathetic was that? He hadn't told Nick about what happened because then he would be constantly watching him and he really didn't need nor want that attention.

"We're here." the sound of Elliot's voice brought him out of his thoughts. Looking up from the ground Greg saw the boundary line that hid the entrance to the chambers of the council. Taking a breath they walked across the line and were now standing in front of a completely different world.

"Welcome home guys!" said Elliot.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and where this story is headed. You have to review if you want more so please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for the help Holly, you're the greatest!**

**By the way this chapter is rated M for a sex scene**

Greg looked up at the building in awe. This had been his home for 18 years of his life, and in all of those years he had only ever been happy when he was with Nick. Greg had known Nick since childhood. He had practically grown up with him, which was looked down upon since Nick was royalty and Greg was simply a peasant you could say and it wasn't until his fifth birthday when he started to exhibit the signs of a seer that his family's status changed. They had been invited to all of the balls and feasts that went on and his parents absolutely loved the attention they were receiving.

Greg had hated the attention. Because of his gift he had spent all of his childhood in his father's study learning how to master his gift while other pups his age were playing outside.

It was when Nick came onto the scene that his life turned around, for the better.

_~Flashback~_

_Eight year old Greg was once again seated in his father's study. His head being held up by his hand and his eyes were slowly beginning to drop from the monotonous voice of his father droning on about the history of past seers who had made incredible contributions to their pack. Just when he didn't think it could get any more boring his father pulled out the book on the very first seer._

_Greg groaned and purposely banged his head on the table and groaned in misery and boredom. _

_"Now, now Gregory this is information you'll need if you plan on succeeding on your path as a seer." Jason Jonathon Sanders scolded as he flipped to the page of the worn leather book with an intricate drawing of an eye on the cover to the page they had left on last time. His father would have finished the book in his last schooling session but Greg's nana Olaf had come into the room and when she saw that Greg was still in class she scolded her son-in-law and cursed him out in Norwegian._

_"Hva er du fremdeles gjør her? Den unge månen har tatt stilling __**den **__unge__** en har fremdeles ikke spist! Sett disse bøkene ned og få til middagsbordet!"**_

_**Loose translation {what are you still doing here? the moon has taken a position and the young one still has not eaten. Put these books down and get to the dinner table!}**_

_But the young moon wasn't in the sky yet and it wouldn't be for another three hours so he was stuck listening to this. Just as his father was clearing his throat to read, a knock resonated from the door. His father set the book down and walked over to the door to open it. On the other side was Greg's mom who informed him that he had a telephone call. Turning back to Greg his father addressed him. _

_"Gregory, I have a phone call I have to attend to. I want you to look through the book until I get back," and with that Jason stepped out of the room with his wife trailing behind him. _

_Once his dad was gone, Greg got up from the table and walked over to the window, taking his usual seat on the plush window seat he looked down at the children who were playing. He longed to be normal like them, to actually have the time to go outside and play with other children of his kind, but he was not given that privilege so he was forced to dream._

_As he was watching the other children play a sudden rock collided next to the window, startling Greg so badly that he actually fell off the seat and onto his rump on the floor. _

_"Hey Greg!" shouted a familiar voice._

_Rubbing his sore rump Greg scrambled up from the floor and on his knees, now looking down to see 11 year old Nicholas Stokes, heir to be alpha, smiling up with him holding a football under his arm._

_"Come down here, me and the other kids are going to play some football!" he shouted up at him._

_Greg looked back inside the study and looked disgustingly at the pile of books on the table then back down at Nick. If his father came back and found him to be gone he would not only be very upset with him but he would also go on a wild search for him and when he found him he would be scolded to tears then forced back here. If he did go outside the consequences would not be pleasant but when he was hanging out with Nick he truly felt like a normal, well as normal as anyone in the pack was, kid._

_Coming to a decision Greg responded to Nick. _

_"I'll be right down, just give me a second!" Greg looked around the window for a way down and spotted it as a wall of vines that was growing up the building. Standing up Greg reached through and around the window until he got a good grip on one of the vines then carefully eased himself out the window and jumped, clinging onto the vines. Once he was on the vine Greg slowly began easing himself down the vine until he finally reached the bottom._

_Turning around he saw Nick walking over to him._

_"That was awesome G!" Nick exclaimed, high fiving his younger friend. Greg smiled, embarrassed he clasped his hands behind his back, looked down at the ground and kicked his foot causing a wave of dirt to fly up giving an example of an 'aw shucks!' moment. _

_Nick looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was in the west so they roughly only had an hour, maybe two to play._

_"Come on G, we gotta hurry if we want to have any time to play." Nick started hurrying away and Greg hurried after him to play what would be the first football game ever, sure it was touch football but football still and with his overprotective mother he was lucky he wasn't living in a plastic bubble._

_~End Flashback~_

Through the years Nick and Greg continued to hang out, and whenever Greg was studying he would anxiously wait for the familiar rock to hit the side of the building after his father had left and when Greg got to the window he would see Nick looking up at him smiling.

It was when Greg was sixteen and Nick was nineteen that their feelings went from friendship to something more.

_~Flashback~_

_Nick and Greg were standing out in the desert, alone and naked, standing a good 5 ft. apart in a fighting stance. The moon was shining down on them and it gave the surreal feeling of an actual stadium. They had been sneaking out after dark for the past few weeks, just to hang out and stuff but lately they had gotten into messing around with fighting techniques and that was why they were both in stand-off positions because tonight was the night that they put all the stuff they practiced to the test. There really wasn't any reason for Greg to be learning this because as a seer the only job he would be doing was staying in the chambers of the council and telling them of his visions, but Nick was in line to the alpha of the pack, a very dangerous position so since the fragile age of fifteen he had been trained with the best fighters of the pack and because of that he had a nice toned body that would make any man jealous, Greg certainly was!_

_"Okay G, you ready for this?" called Nick, flexing his hands by his side, his feet practically vibrating for the speed that was about to come._

_"Show me what you got Nicky!" Greg replied, his own body buzzing with adrenaline_

_The signal they were waiting for that would start the match was the scheduled howl of one of the watchers, the person who watches the territory for any intruders, soon enough the howl came and Greg and Nick flew forward and collided with one another. _

_As they rolled around on the ground they quickly began to change from their human forms into their wolf forms. First their eyes turned to icy blue and eerie yellow then their noses elongated until they were snouts. Bones began to pop, as loud as a pop can being crushed under your feet, but they did not howl in agony, being too use to the pain from previous changes. Hands became furry paws, Nick's fur a midnight black and Greg's a blondish orange. Ears pointed upwards and became the same as a wolves then were covered in black and blondish orange fur. Organs and bones inside their bodies reconstructed themselves to match that of wolves. Tails popped out from the ends of their spines and were first merely bone before coatings of muscle painted itself on and was layered with black and blondish orange fur._

_The transformations were complete!_

_Nick got the upper hand and used his hind legs to kick Greg in the chest, sending him skittering away with a cloud of dust surrounding him. Not taking long to recover Greg shook his head then dived back into the fight with great force. Greg leapt into the air and landed on top of Nick and forced the older wolf to the ground, who growled in frustration and smacked his teeth at Greg,_

_'Lucky shot!' Nick shouted in his mind, using telepathy, an ability the pack had that allowed them to communicate with each other while in wolf form, to communicate with Greg._

_'Whatever you say Nicky' Greg laughed._

_Using his strength Nick kicked Greg off of him and while Greg was still in the air jumped up and pinned Greg to the ground. Greg tried to kick Nick off him but Nick held strong and looked smugly, which looked quite funny on a wolf, down at the trapped wolf._

_'Ready to give up yet?' asked Nick, not even trying to hide the amusement in his voice._

_'I still got a few tricks left' Greg retorted. _

_After having said this Greg once again tried to kick Nick a little lower down the body if you catch my drift, but not even a kick at Nick's wolf-hood gave him a little shot of getting back into the fight._

_Realizing that he was now fighting a losing battle he stopped struggling and let his body go limp. He glared up at Nick who still had that infuriating smug look on his face. _

_'Giving up?' Nick laughed, all ready knowing the answer._

_Greg growled._

_'You win this round Nick, but next time I'm going to kick your ass!' Greg said, not with real anger but with annoyance at his inability to beat Nick._

_In a blink of an eye Greg's body re-morphed back into his human form and Nick quickly followed._

_Both gasping from the physical activity and the adrenaline still coursing through them Nick didn't even make a move to pull away from Greg. While Greg was staring up at Nick Greg began to notice something he had never noticed before, Nick was fucking hot! With his toned body, sexy Texan accent, sun tanned skin, moist pink lips that were just begging to be kissed, hair that Greg suddenly wanted to run his fingers through and soulful brown eyes that Greg would gladly get lost in._

_Holy Cow! He was in love with his best friend!_

_Nick was having the same thoughts as Greg and was slightly taken aback by them but he remained in the same position. Greg's beautiful brown eyes were staring up at him and could see the lust that clouded them and he felt himself become aroused at the knowledge that they were both very naked and that Greg was most likely having the same thoughts as him. _

_Without even realizing it Nick found himself only inches apart from Greg's face and he found he couldn't help himself so he leant down all the way and captured Greg's lips in a first needy kiss. _

_Nick inhaled deeply when their lips made contact and Greg gasped in surprise and pleasure. Greg reached up and ran his fingers through the hair he had yearned to touch before getting a good grip and deepening the kiss. Nick moaned from the pleasure from the slight pain and wound his arms around Greg's lithe form, causing their erections to make contact, and with that contact they had to part from the intense pleasure their bodies received before lunging back in for more._

_Needing more contact, if that was even possible; Greg moved his hands down from Nick's hair and wound his arms around Nick's muscular torso. Greg, in his lustful state managed to flip them over so he was now on top and continued his excavation of Nick's mouth. Deciding he wanted to taste more of Nick Greg moved away from Nick's mouth, who whimpered from the loss but was quickly sated once again when he felt wet sloppy kisses trailing down his neck to his torso. _

_Nick gasped with pleasure, managing to lift his head just in time to watch as Greg ran his tongue along the side of his painfully erect member. He threw his head back and covered his eyes with his arm. "Fuck...Greg...take me all in...please!" he moaned, needing to feel Greg's warm moist mouth on him._

_Greg looked away from Nick's member and up at Nick who he saw was panting so hard that his heart rate had to be pounding away like a drum solo, that's the way Greg's felt right now. Not wanting to deny Nick, or himself, Greg took Nick's member and brought him into his awaiting mouth. And when Greg began to suck Nick started losing control._

_"Oh shit!...yes!...yes!...so good...so good...oh god!" Nick couldn't control himself and started thrusting into Greg's mouth. Greg gagged from the sudden force but managed to grip Nick's hips and keep him in place, much to Nick's displeasure. _

_It wasn't long before Nick came, shouting Greg's name, and Greg drank up all that Nick gave him. Greg released Nick then made his way with lazy kisses up Nick's body before coming to his lips and planting a long sensual kiss on his lips. Nick moaned, finding himself aroused at tasting himself on Greg's lips. Moving away from his lips Greg planted one last kiss on Nick's neck before collapsing beside him. Nick and Greg panted breathlessly, staring up at the stars and moon above them._

_The only sound that escaped their lips for the next few moments were their panting breaths. Greg turned his body and looked at Nick who seemed to be admiring the stars mapped out above them. Reaching out Greg ran his fingers down Nick's cheek and Nick turned to face him. Lifting his own hand Nick took Greg's and laced their fingers together then held them up to his mouth and placed open mouth kisses from Greg's hand to his wrist before laying them down on his chest._

_Greg inched closer to Nick and rested his head against Nick's shoulder, placing a kiss on it before closing his eyes and exhaling blissfully._

_"What does this make us now Nick?" Greg whispered, hiding his face in Nick's warm shoulder._

_"For now I'd settle for boyfriends" Nick replied, tilting his head to look down at Greg, who resembled an angel to him at that moment. The moon practically glistened on his skin, his hair was in a sexy disarray and his lips were parted and swollen with kisses._

_"For now?" Greg looked up at him, a little afraid that this meant Nick would be leaving him at some point. But Nick quickly squashed that fear with what he said next._

_"Yeah, I'd like to think that someday we could be mates...would you want that?" Nick asked, praying that Greg felt the same as him._

_Greg thought about it. Mating with Nick? Before he would have laughed at even the mention of mating with his best friend but now, after what had just happened between the two of them Greg felt himself smiling and meeting Nick's gaze._

_"Yeah, I'd like that, I'd love that in fact" he answered. _

_A brilliant smile graced Nick's face and he leant down and captured Greg in a mind blowing kiss before wrapping his arm around Greg and pulling him closer so they were flesh to flesh. Greg rested his other arm on Neck's chest. _

_"You know, I'm still going to kick your ass" Greg said._

_Nick laughed and looked back up at the moon, smiling he replied. "I'd like to see you try!"_

_~End Flashback~_

"Well gentlemen we should really get a move on if we want to make the meeting in time, the council does not like it when people are tardy" hurrying ahead, Elliot walked ahead and doing the same as before Nick and Greg followed him to the 12 foot metal door that had two guards standing in front of it.

The guards stopped them and the group took a step back.

"Hello gentlemen, my name is Elliot Frenchez and this is Nicholas Stokes and Gregory Sanders. We have a meeting with the council concerning urgent matters that cannot wait" Elliot explained. The guards frowned at him before one of them tapped the com on their ear and spoke to someone.

"Yes, I have an Elliot Frenchez, Nicholas Stokes and Gregory Sanders here, say they have a meeting with the council" the man was silent as he listened to what was being said before thanking whoever was on the other line and tapped the com once before addressing the men in front of him.

"Go on ahead, Georgina will be waiting for you inside to take you to the council's chambers" stepping aside the men opened the door and Nick, Greg and Elliot stepped inside. The metal door creaking closed behind them.

The inside of the building had marble floor with a long European rug trailing down the long hallways in all directions. The walls were made of stone that had portraits of past council members and past alpha males along with other acrylic paintings that was dictated to the transformation of wolves. A large crystal chandelier was hanging from the ceiling above them and each individual crystal appeared to have its own unique glow when hit by the light of the moon that shone through the large window on the ceiling, giving a perfect view of the full moon outside.

A woman wearing a short red skirt, a brown short sleeve blouse and brown knee length boots walked towards them. She had chocolate brown hair pinned up in a bun and her lightly tanned skin was freckled lightly and she had kind blue eyes that could comfort even the coldest hearted person.

She stopped in front of them and shook hands with Elliot then did the same with Nick and Greg while speaking.

"Hello I'm Georgina Martins, if you would kindly follow me I'd be happy to show you to the council's chambers" turning on her heels, Georgina began walking Elliot, Greg and Nick followed close behind her while looking around.

More pictures of past council members were on the wall, some leading back to the 15th century and there were long forgotten torches that were positioned on the wall and there was even a showcase that held sacred items of their pack dating back to the early first century.

Arriving at a large wooden door that had intricate floral carvings Georgina knocked once and addressed themselves.

"Elliot and company are here, shall I send them in?" she called through the door.

"Send them in" a rough, gravelly voice replied.

Pushing the door open they looked inside and saw a large round table with a mapping of the sky behind them and the same European rug leading up to the stairs that separated the rug from the edge of the table. There were ten people seated behind the table, all over them well over the age of 70, and each of them had piercing gazes directed at the newcomers.

"Please, come forward" said the man; the head council member, his gaze was the most piercing and it sent shivers of fear down Greg's spine. Nick noticed his discomfort and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze then as one stepped forward with Elliot walking behind them. Georgina closed the door behind them.

Walking forward into the room they were able to see that the torches on the walls were lit and crackling wickedly and there was also more pictures of council members and past alphas.

Stopping in front of the stairs the head council member began to speak.

"You have come here today to inform us of a very disturbing matter. Would the seer please come forward" the head council member looked directly at Greg, having smelled and recognized the scent of a seer.

Greg released Nick's hand and stepped up the stairs and walked until he was standing a few centimeters away from the table.

"You are the seer that had the vision of the hunter's return?" he asked.

Greg nodded.

"Do you know when he will be arriving? Or if he has any followers with him?" he asked.

"No but from what I saw I could tell that he was getting ready for a war and with the weapons he had I can say with the upmost certainty that he is very capable of taking our pack out" Greg replied, his hands trembling by his sides from anxiety of being in such proximity to some of the most powerful members of the pack.

The head council member stood up from his chair and walked around the table until he was standing in front of Greg.

"I need you to open your mind Greg" he said as he placed the palm of his hand on Greg's forehead and Greg knew what he was doing. He was going to see Greg's vision for himself using the ancient method that can only be mastered through years and years of training. Greg closed his eyes and opened his mind to the council member before him.

Behind them Nick was having a very hard time staying where he was, he desperately wanted to drag Greg away from the entire council but his fear was uncalled for because he had no reason to not trust the council. He grounded himself to the floor and clenched his fist by his side, knowing that causing a scene was not the smartest thing to do at the moment.

When the connection between Greg and the council member was made, Greg saw a bright light flash behind his closed eyes and soon the light cleared away to show the vision he had of the hunter. Through all this Greg's head felt like cotton and he was counting the seconds until the council would leave his mind.

Once the vision was done the council member released Greg and Greg audibly sighed in relief. Opening his eyes he faced the council member.

"This is very troubling. The hunter hasn't been seen or heard from for many, many, many years. I cannot think of a reason for his sudden return. There shouldn't be a new hunter for at least another century. It just doesn't make sense!" he muttered, doing a small pace back and forth in front of the desk.

The council member stopped when he caught Nick's gaze and walked towards him. Nick stood still, not willing to be intimidated by the older, wiser wolf.

"Nicholas Stokes, it has been quite some time since I last saw you" he said, stopping in front of Nick. Elliot had now moved to the side and was sitting in a chair, watching the scene before him.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Nick asked, genuinely confused at the man's apparent pre-knowledge of meeting him before.

"Well I suppose it has been quite some time since we last saw each other, I believe you were five when we first met. Your father brought you down here and I showed you your family's history, you were quite fascinated by the story that told of how your great, great, great, great grandfather led the pack into a war against a rival pack and won without losing a single pack member. But just to refresh acquaintances my name is Charmol Leuomont, head council member" he said shaking Nick's hand.

Memories started flooding back and Nick started to recognize the man standing before him.

"Charmont, I haven't seen you since..." Nick trailed, realizing that the last time Charmont and him had spoken it was when he was telling him that he was leaving and taking Greg with him, afterwards informing him that he refused to accept the title of alpha.

Any kindness that Charmont had vanished and a frown etched onto his face, his brows crinkling in distain.

"Yes, you were quite the tyrant when you left. Leaving behind everything you had ever known and not only that but leaving behind YOUR pack when they needed you the most!" he ranted, practically screaming at Nick.

"You never would have allowed me or Greg to leave if we stayed. We wanted to create our own lives, outside of the pack! And as for being alpha I never wanted it! I saw what all that power did to my father; it made him a cold shell of a man who only ever thought of the next war that in his mind was just around the corner! I didn't want to become that! And when he died and I was of age I knew that you would force that role upon me so I did the only thing that I could do, I left and took my mate with me! And I swore that I would never step foot in this place again!" Nick shouted, practically becoming red in the face from shouting for so long, hardly getting any breath.

Greg rushed to Nick's side and cradled Nick's face and forced him to look at him before he attacked Charmont.

"You need to breath baby, breath" Greg coached, trying to calm Nick down. Nick took in shaky breaths and rested his head on Greg's forehead.

"Sorry, I'm sorry" Nick whispered, embarrassed at the show he had put on.

"It's okay Nicky, just try to remain calm" Greg replied. Nick nodded in understanding and turned to face Charmont.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have exploded at you" he apologized, looking down at the floor in embarrassment.

"Yes well I suppose I should apologize as well for my outburst" Charmont extended his hand in a way of peace. Nick looked up and hesitantly took the offered hand.

"But just because I've forgiven you for your outburst doesn't mean that any of us have forgiven you for abandoning us" and just like that there was a large amount of hostility in the air, mainly coming from Nick who felt like he had just been slapped across the face.

Charmont walked away from Nick and walked back behind the table and took his seat.

"Georgina will show you three to your rooms and we shall pick up this conversation tomorrow" he stated, leaving no room for argument.

Greg and Nick gaped at him, in complete shock. Having to spend the night here? They had run away from this place and now they were being forced to spend an entire night here. Elliot shot up from his chair and marched over to the front of the table so he was standing in front of the head council member and voice his protests.

"Is it really necessary that I spend the night too? I mean I have a club I have to get back to so can't I just come back tomorrow?" Elliot begged, not feeling comfortable with leaving his club in the hands of his two bodyguards.

Charmont simply smiled at him and answered, "Georgina will show you to your rooms. Have a good night gentlemen"

Elliot stood in shock with his mouth opening and closing, in disbelief of what had just happened. When none of them made any move to leave Charmont sighed and said, "You are excused" having been excused like some petulant child Elliot backed away and stepped down the steps, stopping in front of Nick and Greg.

The door to the room opened and they turned to see Georgina standing in the doorway waiting for them.

Grumbling Elliot walked over to Georgina and just as Nick and Greg moved to follow the head council member stopped them.

"Gregory, we would like to have a word with you" Charmont spoke.

Nick and Greg turned to face him and before Nick could protest Greg spoke to him.

"I'll meet you in the room in a little while" Greg cupped his cheek and kissed his on the lips before pulling back and rubbing his cheek with the pad of his thumb.

"I'll be fine" Greg assured him. Nick nodded and leant towards Greg until their lips were only inches apart.

"I love you" Nick said planting a loving kiss on Greg.

"I love you too" Greg replied, lowering his hand Greg turned to face the council and walked back up the steps. Nick stood in the same spot for a few more moments before reluctantly turning his back and heading for the door. When he reached the door he turned to face Greg, who had his back to him, before following Georgina and Elliot, Georgina closed the door before leading them to their rooms.

Back inside the room Greg was standing nervously, feeling like he was being put on trial.

"You can relax Greg, you're not in trouble. Besides, stress isn't good for the baby" Charmont said, with a gentle smile.

Greg's eyes widened and his heart rate increased. They knew!

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you want more you're going to have to review.**


	4. Chapter 4

**THANKS FOR EVERYTHING HOLLY!**

**Warning: there is a m/m sex scene you have been warned! Also, if you haven't noticed this story has been upped to rating M sorry if that means so of you are going to stop reading! :(**

"I-I d-don't know what you're talking about." he stuttered, sweat beginning to gather along his brow. He knew that they could tell he was lying. The guilt was clearly written across his face, but he wasn't going to openly admit to that.

"Oh come now Greg, I have been alive many, many years and I know the scent of a pregnant wolf, and you Greg are definitely pregnant. No more than a week or two, given that the scent is very weak" Charmont said, getting up once again from his chair.

He walked over and stood in front of Greg, placing his hands on Greg's shoulders.

"It truly is an honor Greg! You are carrying the future alpha, though I must warn you that since you are pregnant, your life will be in grave danger, especially with the hunter's return" Charmont gravely informed him.

Greg looked away from Charmont and down at the floor. Charmont could tell that something was troubling the young seer and he voiced his concerns.

"What is troubling you? Surely this should be a celebrated time!" Charmont exclaimed, concerned that Greg was planning on aborting the child.

Greg shrugged out from in front of Charmont and turned away from him, now facing the door.

"Nick doesn't know, and I don't want him to. With the hunter coming Nick will have to have a clear head, and if I tell him all he'll be worrying about is my safety and because of that he could get himself killed" Greg looked behind him and made eye-contact with Charmont.

"And I would rather die than let that happen. I know I can't hide it forever but until the hunter is taken care of. Nick can never know" Greg stated. If Nick were to die because he had been concentrating on Greg, he would take his life without a thought because a life without Nick wasn't a life at all, it was just existing.

Charmont walked over to him and stopped behind him.

"We will honor your request Greg, but know that if you were to take your life you would also be taking away this pack's future" Charmont said.

Greg snorted in disbelief and whirled around to face the old man.

"All you ever care about is the goddamn pack! I just clearly told you that I would commit suicide, and all you care about is that you would be without a leader? This was another reason why Nick and I left, because everyone was only thinking about what was best for the pack but never what was best for the individuals! I know that sounds selfish but hell I feel like being selfish! Nick and I just wanted a normal life. I could have kept the hunters coming to myself but I didn't because some insane part of me felt that you guys deserved to know, but now I'm starting to think that maybe the hunter's arrival is a blessing" Greg was shocked when he received a punch across the jaw. The blow wasn't powerful enough to cast him off his feet but it was enough to make him stagger and clutch his jaw in agony.

"How dare you insult us! You should be grateful for all the things we did for you and your family! And this is how you repay us!" Charmont ranted, absolutely livid now.

Greg rubbed his jaw; he could taste the blood building up in his mouth. He spat the copper tasting fluid out of his mouth, standing up to his full height as he glared at Charmont with enough intensity to start a raging inferno.

"My parents may have worshipped you, but not me! You'll never control me and I'll never thank you for anything!" Greg spat on the floor and shot one last glare at the red faced Charmont.

"Goodnight council, I'll see you tomorrow" Greg turned his back on them, hearing them muttering angrily behind him, but the one that stood out the most was the ranting Charmont behind him.

"You ungrateful little shit! You'll pay for your insolence Gregory Hojem Sanders! I swear to mother moon!" he screamed.

Greg simply ignored him and walked out the door, slamming it shut behind him. Greg was about to start walking down the hallway but stopped when he came across Georgina who was leaning against the wall, waiting for him.

"I'm assuming you heard all that?" he questioned.

She nodded, taking a step away from the wall as she walked towards him, stopping in front of him.

"No one's been insane enough to challenge the council, I don't know if that makes you brave or just plain stupid" she reached out and gently ran her thumb over his injured jaw line that was all ready beginning to swell.

Greg hissed on contact and she pulled her hand away.

"Nick is going to be pissed when he sees you like this, c'mon I have a first aid kit in my room" slinging her arm around his shoulders, she led him off towards her room.

They arrived at her room a few minutes later. She showed him in, telling him to sit down on the bed while she got the kit.

As Georgina was getting the kit Greg took the time to look around the room; the room wasn't that big, it was pretty much the size of Greg's DNA lab, but from the looks of it the size was enough for her. She had a mahogany drawer and desk against the left side wall sitting side by side, a mini fridge was stationed next to the bathroom, a fluffy white carpet, hand drawn drawings of people and nature pinned up on the walls, an easel next to an open window that looked out on the desert, subtle purple walls and the queen sized bed with a silk black comforter with three form-fitting pillows resting up against the deep brown headboard.

Georgina had entered the bathroom to get the kit, from his angle on the bed Greg could make out a porcelain sink with grooming essentials lined up in a row with a computer screen sized mirror and the only other thing he could make out, since the subtle purple door was half-closed was the black and white checkered tiled floor.

She soon returned with a bright blue latched-box with a red cross painted on the front.

"Now I haven't opened this in quite some time, but hopefully there's something in here that will help with the swelling" she unlatched the kit and laid it open on the bed.

"Some ice will do" he told her, basic first aid coming to the front of his mind.

Georgina stopped rummaging through the kit and huffed; a thought must have occurred because she jumped up from the bed and walked over to the fridge. Leaning down she opened the fridge and got out a can of 7-Up. She brought the soda back and gently pressed the cold beverage against his jaw-line.

The sudden coldness caused him to cringe and she apologized.

"I don't have any ice so I guess this will have to do" she said, relinquishing her hold on the can when Greg took over for her.

"Thanks" he said, very grateful for her help.

"Open up, I want to see the damage on the inside of your mouth" she commanded. Greg was slightly surprised by the sudden command, but did as she asked and opened his sore mouth. She got a small flashlight from the kit and shined the light into his mouth.

"Hmm, looks like you might've bitten your tongue and the injury to your jaw caused that side of your gums to bleed. Come into the bathroom and you can wash the blood out" she turned the flashlight off, setting it aside as she helped Greg up from the bed. He walked into the bathroom with her, stopping in front of the sink. Greg picked up a flower Dixie Cup and filled it up with water then poured the water in his mouth and swished it around in his mouth, collecting the coppery blood in his mouth. When he figured he had rinsed enough he spat the water out and watched as the translucent red liquid disappeared down the drain.

He could still taste some copper in his mouth so he got another mouthful of water and spat once more. When the copper taste was gone Greg exited the bathroom and saw Georgina waiting for him on her bed.

"Thanks for helping me" he said, not knowing what else to say.

"No problem, I'm sure if the situation was reversed you would do the same for me" she replied, waving her hand as if it were no big deal.

"Guess I'd better get back to Nick before he thinks I've been killed or abducted" Greg joked as he made his way for the door.

As he was grasping the doorknob Georgina stopped him.

"Greg, I think we should talk about what happened with Charmont" Georgina said, rising from the bed.

Greg's hand fell away from the doorknob and he turned to face her.

"There's nothing to talk about and if you truly want to be helpful you won't tell Nick, anything" he said, a silent threat underlining his words that said 'tell him and you'll be sorry'.

Georgina walked over to him, stopping when she was just a few inches away from him before she spoke, choosing her words carefully.

"He's going to find out sooner or later and by not telling him now he's going to feel like you don't trust him and I know that that's not true, I can tell that you trust him with your life just by seeing you two together. I agree with you when you said that you guys only wanted a normal life, I want the same thing but challenging the head council isn't going to do you any good! So the smart thing to do is to keep your thoughts to yourself and make sure that you, Nick and your guys' child comes out alive in the end" she said, hoping she was getting her message across.

"That's all I want too, but I can't tell Nick, it would consume his every thought and the hunter will be able to sneak up on him and kill him. I'll tell Nick as soon as the hunter is gone, I promise" he turned to leave again, but Georgina stopped him once again.

"If the council could tell that your pregnant its only a matter of time before other people notice as well, and one of them is going to say something to him and he'll feel betrayed, maybe even think that the reason you didn't tell him was because the child isn't his...it is his right?" she hesitated on the end.

"W-What of course the baby is his! I love Nick with all my being, I could never be with anyone else! How could you even think that!" he ranted, his heart rate accelerating along with his breathing.

Georgina concerned with his health and the baby's, hesitantly reached out for him and placed her hands on his shoulders. She was surprised he didn't push her away.

"Greg, you need to calm down okay? Getting worked up like this isn't good for you or the baby and if anything were to happen to you or the baby, Nick would surely kill me himself. Now I need you to calm down and take deep calming breaths, okay? Can you do that for me?" she instructed, then mimicked the actions she wanted Greg to do.

Jerkily nodding his head, Greg tried to copy her breathing methods and soon his breaths went from coming out shakily to evenly and his heart went down to a much safer level.

Georgina led him back over to the bed and made him sit down a while. She got him a bottle of water from the fridge, walking back towards him as she handed it over. She watched as he uncapped the bottle and took a long drink from it before bottling it back up and setting it aside.

"Feeling better?" she asked, staring at him with worry in her eyes.

"Yeah, sorry about exploding at you…but when it comes to Nick, I tend to act a little insane" he awkwardly chuckled, playing with the thread dangling at the end of his shirt.

"I shouldn't have said what I said; you were already agitated enough and I didn't need to say what I did. I should have known that you would never cheat on Nick, even though I just met you today I can tell that that's the last thing you would ever do to him. I hope you can forgive me because I would really like to be friends, if that's okay?" she asked hesitantly, hoping Greg could find it in his heart to forgive her.

"It's okay, I forgive you I mean as hard as it is to admit you had probable reasons to say what you did, as you said before we just met so infidelity is sadly not too uncommon in cases like this. But I can assure you that this is Nick's baby" he told her.

Greg got up from the bed and tapped his fingers on his jean clad thigh.

"Guess I'll be leaving for real this time, thanks for the talk Georgina, I hope we can do this again sometime, minus the first aid and the arguing" he said, making his way for the door.

"Me too, goodnight Greg" she said, watching as he grasped the handle.

"Night Georgina" Greg turned the knob and walked out of the room, gently closing the door behind him. It was while he was beginning to walk down the hallway that he realized he had no clue where Nick's room was so he turned back and went back to Georgina's room and knocked on the door.

Georgina opened the door and was shocked to see Greg standing before her.

"Greg? Is everything alright?" she asked, concerned that something had happened.

"Yeah, I just don't know where Nick's room is so..." Greg said, sticking his hands in his pockets.

Georgina caught on to what he was saying and laughed, embarrassed at her thought that Greg knew where Nick was.

"Sorry, that's my bad I forgot you don't know where he's staying. I'll show you to your guys' room" she walked out of the room and closed her door behind her. She then led him down the hallway and to Nick's room.

"This is it" she said, stopping them in front of a cherry oak door with a brass doorknob.

"Thanks, for everything" he said.

"No problem, and if you ever need to talk, you know where to find me" she patted him on the shoulder then walked away back to her room.

Turning back to the door Greg grasped the knob and pushed the door open. As soon as he walked inside he was engulfed in a hug by a very muscular Texan. Greg hugged Nick back and closed his eyes in bliss.

"What took you so long? I was panicking outta my mind worrying about you" Nick pulled his head away from the crook of Greg's neck as he unwound one of his arms, cupping Greg's cheek.

Greg flinched from the contact on his swollen jaw and Nick pulled his hand away. When he did he noticed the injury to his lover and instinct took over. He began checking over the rest of his mate's body, making sure there weren't any other injuries all the while speaking, demanding to know who did this so he could rip them to shreds.

"Nick I'm fine, I just wasn't watching where I was going and I ran into a door, this is no one's fault but my own" Greg lied, not wanting to tell Nick what really happened because he knew that if he told him that Charmont did this Nick would go to Charmont and kill him and because of that, rightful alpha or not, the council would put Nick to death.

Nick looked at him, giving him the 'I know your lying' face.

Deciding to go for a new tactic Greg unwound his arms from around Nick's waist and swung them around Nick's neck.

"I'm okay Nicky, really it's only a little sore but the swelling will go down and soon will the pain. Now I don't know about you but I'm really, really tired so why don't the two of us crawl under the covers of that comfy king sized bed over there and get some sleep?" and just to add to the affect Greg leaned up and started peppering Nick's neck with licks and kisses making Nick moan.

"Greg...you're...trying to...seduce me...and...nmm...stop me...hmmm...from...finding out...what happened...but...that's...unnm...isn't going...to happen" when Greg leaned up a little more he nibbled on Nick's earlobe and reached under Nick's shirt, starting to tease one of his nipples.

That was what finally broke Nick. Forcing Greg away from his neck he brought Greg's lips to his own and hungrily kissed him like a drowning man and Greg was the current pulling him under, but he would gladly die a death like this. Moaning into the kiss, Greg blindly pulled at the bottom of Nick's shirt. Pulling away for only a second, Nick ripped the shirt off and lunged once more at Greg's delectable lips.

Nick pulled Greg by the loops of his belt loops towards the bed. Greg's legs made contact with the bed and he fell over, landing with a bounce on the overly comfy bed. Nick climbed on the bed and towered over Greg before bending down and capturing Greg in another mind-blowing kiss. Greg moaned into the kiss and Nick pulled away from Greg's lips and whispered huskily into his ear

"I think both of us are wearing way too many articles of clothing" Greg nodded jerkily and reached for Nick's jean zipper while Nick pulled Greg's shirt off then moved onto Greg's own jeans. When Greg had successfully unzipped Nick's jeans, Nick took over and pulled his jeans down and stepped out of them, having already taken off his shoes and socks. Nick then took Greg's own shoes and socks off then pulled Greg's jeans off and went back to attacking Greg's lips.

Greg pulled himself further onto the bed and Nick followed him until they were both completely on the bed. Greg moved away from Nick's lips and claimed Nick's shoulder where the familiar crescent scar was, a similar scar on his own shoulder. They had given each other those scars the day they had mated.

_~Flashback~_

_Greg, now eighteen years old, and Nick, 21 years old, had once again snuck out of their bedrooms and met up a few miles away from their pack's village and were looking up at the stars. _

_Greg was laying on top of Nick's chest with Nick's arms wrapped around his torso and every once in a while would point out a constellation. It was on this night that many things would change for the young couple._

_As they were watching the night sky a shooting star shot across the horizon and Nick spoke into Greg's ear._

_"Make a wish" as cheesy as it was, it made Greg smile._

_He didn't even have to think about what he wanted, he had been thinking about it an awful lot for the past three weeks and he hoped that Nick felt the same. Nick and Greg had been dating for two years now and they had been the best two years of Greg's life and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Nick._

_Greg turned around in Nick's arms until his stomach was pressed against Nick's and he wound his arms around Nick's neck._

_"I wish...that we were mates" Greg whispered, hoping he wouldn't be rejected._

_A smile crept onto Nick's face and his eyes twinkled with happiness._

_"I guess both our wishes are coming true then" Nick cupped Greg's cheek and pressed his lips against Greg's. Greg's lips curved into a smile and he pulled away so he was straddling Nick laughing with joy._

_A thought suddenly came to Greg and he stopped smiling. Nick noticed the change and sat up in concern._

_"Baby what is it?" Nick asked, worrying that Greg was having second thoughts._

_"What about our parents? More specifically what about yours? They'll never allow us to mate because to them I'm nothing but a peasant and your royalty! They'll never accept us!" Greg panicked._

_Nick brought Greg back down into a loving embrace and rubbed his back in comfort._

_"It's okay, We don't have to worry about them because they don't have to know, at least not right now! I love you with all my heart and if our parents don't agree with our love for each other then screw them! I love you Greg, and I want to spend every waking moment with you, as mates" Nick declared, willing to do and say anything to put Greg's worries at ease._

_Greg looked up from Nick's shoulder and into his deep chocolate eyes and saw the never ending amount of love that was enveloping Greg's heart and soul._

_Not being able to convey into words how much he loved Nick at this moment, he captured Nick's lips and Nick recuperated wholeheartedly. Reaching down, Nick gripped the bottom of Greg's shirt and started to pull, Greg caught on to what he was doing and reluctantly pulled away from Nick's lips and raised his arms so that Nick could get the shirt over his head. Greg went back to kissing Nick and reached down for the bottom of Nick's shirt and the routine was repeated. _

_Greg wrapped his legs around Nick's waist and ground their erections together. Nick growled, his eyes glowing a fierce yellow from his arousal. Blindly fumbling with Nick's belt Greg finally managed to unlatch the belt, unbuttoning and unzipping Nick's jeans. Still kissing, Greg reached down into Nick's pants, getting a hold of Nick's firm cock, eliciting a loud guttural moan from Nick._

_Greg suddenly stopped the hand job and Nick was about to protest before he saw what Greg was now holding, a condom and a small clear bottle of lube. Nick smiled, lust spilling over his eyes and filling his normal piney scent with lust._

_"You planned this" Nick accused, but he wasn't complaining._

_"Guilty, I was planning on trying to seduce you, but mating with you was only a dream" Greg gave Nick a sensual kiss then helped Nick out of his jeans and boxers before doing the same with himself. When they were both naked Greg got on his hands and knees and waited for Nick and him to become one._

_Nick squeezed a generous amount of lube on his finger then slid one finger into Greg's puckered hole. Greg felt the burn as the finger entered him but that burn quickly turned to pleasure when Nick added a second finger and began to scissor until Greg was ready for him._

_Not being able to take anymore and wanting Nick in him now Greg began to plead_

_"Please Nicky! Just do it! I can't wait any longer; I need you in me now!" Greg begged, needing to become one with Nick, now!_

_Taking his fingers out, Nick rolled the condom up his length then lubed himself up, pressing himself up against Greg's entrance, he hesitated at first, afraid he would hurt Greg. This was the first time they had ever made love and he was afraid that he would do something wrong and hurt Greg._

_"You won't hurt me Nick, I trust you" Greg said, as if reading his thoughts._

_In one swift motion Nick entered Greg. There was an intense burning and discomfort at first and Nick stilled himself, giving Greg some time to adjust and when Greg nodded that he was ready Nick began to move. He moved slow at first before getting a rhythm going. It was when Nick hit Greg's sweet spot that Greg cried out and at first Nick thought he had hurt him but then he heard the moans of pleasure and continued what he was doing._

_Nick wrapped an arm around Greg's midsection and pulled him towards himself, continuing to thrust deep inside Greg. Getting a hold of Greg's achingly hard cock he started to pump it in rhythm to his thrusting. Sweat gathered on their bodies and the sound of skin slapping against skin and grunts and moans echoed in the desert..._

_Greg rested his head on Nick's shoulder, his eyes closed and his mouth gaped open, small gasps of breath escaping. _

_A tingling sensation built up inside of Nick's stomach and soon a bright light exploded behind his eyes and he emptied his seed inside Greg, shouting Greg's name. Greg came soon after, shouting Nick's name._

_Both were now panting and basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking. Without opening his eyes Greg turned his head and planted a feather light kiss on Nick's lips before deepening the kiss, soon having to part for air._

_"I love you" Greg breathed._

_"I love you too" Nick planted a kiss on Greg's forehead._

_"You know that was only the intro to mating right?" Greg said, hoping that Nick wouldn't back out before the ritual was finished. Nick visibly stiffened, this was the step that had him the most hesitant, he would be causing Greg pain and even though the same would be done to himself he couldn't help but feel guilty for what he was about to do._

_Greg pulled himself away from Nick, feeling Nick's cock sliding out of him and both of them immediately missed the connection. Greg's entire backside felt sore but he gladly endured the pain with the knowledge of what the pain had come from. He turned to face Nick and climbed onto his lap, wrapping his legs around Nick's waist. Both moaned when their cock's made contact but they repressed from having another round of sex._

_Greg cupped Nick's cheek and Nick leaned into the touch, planting a kiss on Greg's palm before speaking._

_"I don't want to hurt you" he whispered, finally making eye-contact with Greg._

_"Look I can't say that I won't feel any pain, because maybe for the first few seconds I will, but in the end the pain is worth it! I love you Nick, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you" Greg said, trying to calm Nick's anxiety. _

_A tear slid down Nick's cheek and Greg wiped it away with the pad of his thumb. Nick's emotions finally caught up with him and he rested his head in the crook of Greg's shoulder, not crying just inhaling Greg's scent, comforting himself._

_"I don't want to hurt you" he repeated, his voice muffled. _

_Greg wrapped his arms around Nick and shushed him._

_"Please Nick, mark me, make your mate" Greg pleaded, running his hand through Nick's hair._

_He heard Nick sigh and move away from Greg's shoulder until he was face to face with Greg. Leaning in Nick planted a sensual kiss on Greg before moving back down to his left shoulder and gently kissed the area he intended to mark. Nick felt his teeth elongate and sharpen and he allowed instinct to take over; placing his teeth on the chosen spot on Greg's shoulder and bit down._

_Greg grunted in pain but didn't pull away, wanting Nick to finish what he started. _

_Blood gushed into Nick's mouth and dribbled down Greg's chest and back. When he deemed the bite to be deep enough, he pulled back, blood dripping down his chin, and his teeth returned to normal. He wiped the blood from his mouth, leaving behind bloody smudges on his chin and around his mouth, and looked at Greg, waiting for his reaction. When he saw Greg smile he smiled as well and brought Greg in for another kiss._

_"My turn" Greg said into Nick's mouth._

_Pulling away Greg looked to Nick's shoulder ran his fingers against Nick's left shoulder. Nick bent down and laid a kiss on Greg's wrist before returning his eyes to Greg's. Without hesitation Greg leaned down and placed his mouth on his desired spot, doing the same as Nick. Greg laid a kiss on Nick's shoulder. His teeth elongated and sharpened then he bit down._

_Nick held in his grunt of pain and instead watched Greg mark him as his own._

_When the bite was deep enough he pulled away and wiped the blood from his mouth._

_Nick and Greg just sat in blissful silence._

_It was Nick who made the first move, cupping the back of Greg's neck he brought their lips down together and licked Greg's lips, asking for entrance, Greg opened his mouth and Nick's tongue slid inside. Both moaned and Nick gently laid Greg down, kneeling over him, continuing to kiss and nip at his lips. _

_When they pulled apart for air Greg smiled up at him and Nick smiled down at him._

_"Our parents are going to kill us you know" Greg said, running his hand down Nick's chest._

_Nick laughed and planted another kiss on Greg._

_"We'll worry about them later, right now I just want to be with you" he replied._

_"I think that can be arranged" Greg replied bringing Nick down for another long, loving kiss._

_~End Flashback~_

Surprisingly both of their parents took their mating very well, especially Greg's parents who were thrilled that Greg had mated into royalty.

A huge feast and ball had been held in their honor and all of the Las Vegas Pack was invited.

Greg and Nick laid under the covers of the king sized bed, naked, in each other's arms after an intense session of lovemaking.

A thought came to Greg's mind and he knew that this was the last thing Nick wanted to talk about but they had to talk about it sooner or later because they were going to run into them sooner or later.

"What are we going to do when we run into our parents?" Greg asked. He felt Nick stiffen and knew that Nick was closing up on him; he always did when Greg mentioned their parents.

"Do we really have to talk about this Greg? I'd rather just lay here with you and just hold you" Nick said, his hold tightening around Greg's waist.

Greg turned around in Nick's arms till he was facing him.

"They're going to hear that we're here and then they'll come down here and demand to know what the hell we were thinking! At least my parents will" Greg added as an afterthought. Nick sighed and rested his forehead against Greg's, closing his eyes.

"We'll deal with them when the time comes" Nick pulled back and kissed Greg on the temple then waited for sleep to come. Greg snuggled up closer to Nick and rested his head against Nick's chest and closed his eyes.

It was only five minutes after Greg had fallen asleep that a vision entered his dreams.

**The hunter was standing in the same cabin as before only this time he was standing in front of a chair. **

**He reached over for a brander that was ruby red from the heat. A struggle and gagged cries of protest could be heard coming from the chair.**

**"This will only hurt for a second" the hunter cooed, an evil glint in his eyes as he brought the boiling hot brander closer to the exposed skin on the bound man's right peck.**

**The chair wobbled back and forth, the man in the chair trying in vain to get away from the burning brander.**

**The brander was brought down on the man's skin and a loud wrenching muffled scream. The hunter brought the brander away and dropped it into a bucket of water, the sound of sizzling sounded in the room along with the muffled sobs of the victim. The burn on the man's skin continued to burn and was a shiny red, looking painful to the touch.**

**"See that wasn't so bad Gregory" the hunter said, a Cheshire cat smile on his face.**

**Sweat glistening on his exposed skin, panting in pain with various other cuts on his face he looked up and managed to glare up at the hunter.**

Greg's eyes shot open, the white mist evaporated from his eyes and he shot up in bed, abruptly waking Nick, and Greg was panting and fumbling along his right peck for the mark that had been burned upon him.

Nick sat up in the bed carefully placed his hand on Greg' shoulder causing Greg to jump in surprise.

"Hey, hey it's okay baby! It's just me!" Nick tried to soothe him.

"Nick?" Greg said, his breath slowly going back to normal, along with his heart rate. He turned to face Nick and saw a panicked Nick staring back at him.

"Yeah baby, it was just a dream...or was it a vision?" Nick asked, massaging the shoulder his hand was on.

Greg was about to open his mouth and tell him that it was a vision of him being tortured by the hunter but stopped himself. If he told Nick he would get into protective mode and only care about keeping Greg safe, not himself. It was the same dilemma as telling him about the baby. He couldn't tell him!

"Greg?" Nick asked, growing even more concerned with Greg's long amount of silence.

"It was just a bad dream, that's all" Greg said. Greg leaned back against Nick who carefully laid back down, with his arms still wrapped around him.

Just as they were getting comfy Nick's cell rang. Both groaned and Nick reached out for his phone on the nightstand and picked the phone up.

Greg burrowed into Nick's side and Nick absently played with the top of his messed up hair.

Nick pressed the receive button and brought the phone to his ear.

"Stokes"

"Nick it's Grissom, listen I know that I gave you two time off, but a case just came in and we need everyone on this, including you and Greg so I'm sorry to cut your vacation short but you need to come back to work" Grissom said, feeling like crap for doing this to them.

Nick sighed in annoyance and brought the phone away from his ear.

"Fuck!" he sighed, dreading having to tell Greg this.

Greg looked up at Nick curiously, wondering who was on the other line.

Nick brought the phone back to his ear and spoke.

"Look Grissom, I don't know if Greg and I are going to be able to help you, why can't you get someone from swing to help you guys out?" at the mention of Grissom, Greg sat up and motioned for Nick to give him the phone.

"Dayshift and swing shift are already overloaded with other cases; you two are all I have so please, I know it's an inconvenience, come back to the lab. The others are already at the crime scene" Grissom actually begged, begged! And that's not something Grissom did.

Greg was now trying to pry the phone away from Nick but Nick managed to keep the phone away from him and continue speaking to Grissom.

"I'll see what we can do but it's likely that you're going to have to rely on the others to help you on this one" but before Grissom could speak Nick hung up.

"Nick, what did Grissom want?" Greg asked.

"He wants us to come back to work, apparently he has a case that he needs all of nightshift on" Nick said, looking down at Greg.

"The council isn't going to let us go Nick" Greg stated.

"I know, which is why we'll either have to stay here and risk Grissom tracking us down or somehow sneak out of here without getting caught" Nick said, not liking the sound of either.

"Choices, choices" Greg muttered.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you want more you're going to have to review! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Holly you are awesome! Thanks for the motivation and confidence!**

Grissom was shocked when Nick abruptly hung up on. Lowering the phone from his ear he sat and pondered what the hell was going on with his CSI 3. He had a feeling that the story Nick had given him about their families needing them was in trouble wasn't really true and-

He was startled out of his thoughts when his cell suddenly rang. Picking up the device he answered the call.

"Grissom"

"Hey Griss, Catherine and I were looking over the cars in the area and we found Nick's truck" Warrick said.

Grissom was silent. Nick's truck? What was Nick's truck doing at a crime scene?

"I'll be down there in a few minutes. Nick and Greg are hopefully on their way as well" Grissom got up from his desk and walked over to grab his field kit and vest.

"Hopefully? Grissom what's going on? With Nick I mean?" Warrick asked, walking away from Nick's truck and back towards the club.

"I don't know Warrick, but I'm going to find out" Grissom hung up and stashed the phone in his pocket.

Warrick brought the phone away from his ear and pocketed the device, not at all surprised at the sudden hang up.

Warrick entered the club once again, walking under the crime scene tape and over to Sara who was taking pictures of blood splatter along the bar area. When he entered he passed Dave who was wheeling out the last body, a total count of 40, and before Dave left he handed Warrick an evidence bag with a bullet in it, Dave said that he had found it in the back of a victim's mouth. Warrick thanked him. Dave went on his way to the van waiting for him.

"What did Grissom say?" Sara asked, without looking up. She had been the one to point out the familiar vehicle to Catherine and Warrick before going inside and drawing the crime scene.

"He said that he's on his way" Warrick said, getting his own camera out and walking over to another part of the club.

"Have you already photographed this part?" he asked.

"Nope, all yours" she replied.

Warrick nodded and took a photograph of a bullet hole in the wall.

"What did he say about Nick's truck?" she asked suddenly, lowering her camera and getting out her tweezers to pick up a bullet from behind the bar.

"Nothing really and when I asked him what was going on with Nick he told me that he didn't know but was going to find out" Warrick answered, picking up another bullet, similar to the one Sara had found. "Hey Sara, I found a bullet" Warrick said, turning around and walking over to her after putting the bullet in a small manila envelope and placing it in one of his chest pockets.

"So did I" Sara said, showing Warrick the bullet she had found. Warrick brought his own bullet out and compared the two, side by side. They looked to be identical, but they would have to get them to Bobby to be sure.

Warrick put the bullet away and looked around the club, stopping when he saw one of the security cameras.

"Hey Sara, has anyone gotten the surveillance videos yet?" he asked.

"No, I've been too busy down here. I think the security room is in that room over there" she pointed at a door in the far corner of the room that was almost blended in with the walls.

Warrick walked over to the door, being careful where he stepped. He stopped when he reached the door, taking a moment to look the door over. He found that there was a small bullet hole in the dead center of the door. He took a picture of the bullet hole then with his gloved hand attempted to open the door but found it to be locked.

With a huff Warrick walked away from the door and over to Brass who had entered while his back had been turned. Brass was talking to Catherine about Nick's truck when he interrupted them.

"Hey, Brass where is that security guard that managed to get away?" Warrick asked.

"He's sitting in an ambulance getting his injuries taking care of, why?" he asked, thinking that Warrick thought he was a suspect.

"There's a door that's locked that I need to take a look inside and I'm thinking that he may have the keys" Warrick responded. Having said that Warrick walked out of the club and over to one of the ambulances where a paramedic was treating the security guard.

"Hi, I'm Warrick Brown from the crime lab, I understand that your one of the security guards?" he began, looking up at the guard who was having bandages put on a nasty gash on his temple.

"Yeah, Roy Talonski, been working here for about seven years now and I got to tell you I have seen a lot of fights take place here but not one like this that has left bodies on the floor" Roy replied.

He was giving the man enough information for them to know that yes, something had gone down here but he couldn't actually let them find the man responsible because they were just humans and would wind up getting themselves killed! And that was something that their pack made sure didn't happen by keeping their world a secret.

"Did you see the shooter?" Warrick asked, getting down to business.

This was where the man began to panic. He had two options: option #1 he could give him a fake description and hope that they didn't arrest some poor schmuck who happened to fit that description option. #2 he could lie and say that he hadn't seen anyone, the club had been too crowded or option #3 he could give a half true, half lie description. He chose option 2 being that he couldn't tell him the truth because as he said before the humans would only get themselves killed trying to track the hunter down, because he knew that that was the man who had attacked the club.

"No, with the lights flashing and people screaming, running around everywhere I couldn't find the guy that was shooting. I fired off a few shots but with me not being able to see him they never hit their target. When my partner got shot I was forced to duck behind the bar and wait things out" he lied. In his story he knew he made himself out to be a terrible, cowardly security guard but that was the image he was going for.

Warrick didn't believe his story for a second and called him on it.

"Mr. Talonski, you do realize that lying to an officer is an offense to the law and I could have you arrested?" Warrick said, going for the scare tactic.

Roy didn't even pretend that the possibility of jail time scared him. The council was scarier than this guy and he had been through Charmont's wrath when he had committed a particularly bad offense.

"Look, from what I saw the guy was at least 6 foot, and he was a wearing a black trench coat with the flaps up along with a bandanna covering the lower part of his face, and I can tell was that he was white. That's all I got" he said, in truth that was really all he had seen but he knew without a doubt that it was the hunter because of his gun, a gun that hadn't been seen in over a century and had called all of the people in the club 'bloody wolves!'

This time Warrick did believe his story and wrote down the information on his notepad.

"Thank you and would you mind coming down to the station to talk to our sketch artist? You're the only one so far that's given us even a little bit of useful information" Warrick asked.

"Yeah sure, seeing as how I don't have to get ready for work" Roy replied.

"Oh and Mr. Talonski, you wouldn't happen to have the key for the security room would you? I noticed the security cameras and was hoping that I could get the surveillance tapes" Warrick asked, hoping that the guy did.

"Yeah of course, I had just come out of there when the attack happened, the door automatically locks once closed" Roy reached into his pocket and produced a ring of keys. Flipping through them he found the correct key and handed the keys over to Warrick. He wasn't worried about them seeing anything relating to his pack because they only recorded the front of the club and the dance floor.

Warrick took the keys, thanked the man for his time and reentered the building.

Apparently during his interview with Mr. Talonski Grissom had arrived and was looking over the crime scene for himself. Warrick stopped beside Grissom and spoke.

"There's a locked room that houses the security and I have just got the key" Warrick said.

Grissom stopped what he was doing and looked up at Warrick.

"Then what are you doing standing here? Go and open that door" Grissom then went back to looking over the crime scene.

Warrick, being used to Grissom's gruffness, walked away from the older man and over to the door that hopefully had some answers as to what had gone down last night. He brought the key down to the lock and the key smoothly slid in, silently thanking god, Warrick turned the key and the door clicked open.

Training took over and before he entered the room he got his department issued glock out and took the safety off. With the weapon trained in front of him he entered the room and scanned the room for anyone or anything dangerous, like explosives, wouldn't be the first time someone had planted an explosive to try and get rid of evidence.

Deeming the area to be safe he lowered his gun, but didn't return it to his holster as he walked over to a desk that had the top of the line security sitting on it.

He hovered over the desk and re-wound the current tape in the machine. It was when he saw Nick and Greg enter the club that he pressed play. He watched as Nick and Greg stopped and seemed to have an altercation with one of the club goers. Greg pulled Nick away from the man and led him away and over to the bar where they then engaged in a conversation with one of the bartenders.

Warrick was shocked when he saw Greg suddenly lean over the counter and say something to the bartender that put the fear of god in the man. He zoomed in when he saw four men, one of them being Roy and another one of the casualties but he didn't recognize the third man. Those three men stopped in front of Greg and Nick and another conversation was started. It was when they walked off screen that he fast forwarded the video until he watched as Nick, Greg and the unknown man leave the club. Exactly three hours later the shooting began. Unfortunately the video also hadn't been able to get a good shot at the shooter but he was hoping Archie could find something that he couldn't so he took the tape out of the machine and bagged it.

"What have you gotten yourselves into?" he asked aloud.

Greg and Nick had changed back into their clothes and were currently climbing down the side of their bedroom window.

"I'm having a flashback to our childhood" Greg smiled as he carefully shimmied down the vine, Nick in front of him.

Nick laughed and replied. "Yeah, I remember having my pockets bulging with rocks and me standing under your window throwing them at the side of the window like prince charming" he replied.

"And what a sexy prince charming you are" Greg replied.

When they were close enough to the ground they jumped down and pressed their backs up against the building. They were surprised that security wasn't already surrounding them but they took that as a blessing and slowly started to creep around the building and just as Greg was about to creep a little further Nick pulled him back.

Greg looked at him quizzically and Nick jerked his head to the side for Greg to look. Greg did so and saw the same two guards from the front door apparently on their lunch break were in front of the building. Greg turned back to Nick with anxiety.

"How are we going to get past them Nick? You might be able to out run them but I can't!" Greg panicked.

Hearing that gave Nick an idea and suddenly started to undress. Greg looked at him like he was insane before he caught on to what Nick was planning.

"I'm going to distract them and lead them away from here then lose them and I'll meet you at Elliot's car, you remember how to hotwire a car right?" Nick said as he was finally undressed and handed Greg his clothing.

"What if you can't lose them?' Greg asked, he already had an idea of what Nick was going to say.

"Leave without me and I'll find you as soon as I can" Leaning down he captured Greg in a loving kiss before pulling away and getting down on all fours and transforming into his wolf. Greg stood watching his mate, in awe over how breathtaking Nick looked in his wolf form. His midnight black coat looked sleek to the touch and his eyes were eerie yellow but Greg wasn't frightened by them because he knew that they were the window to Nick's loving soul.

Not being able to help himself Greg reached out and ran his hand down Nick's back, smiling when Nick gave him a lick on his hand when his hand was retreating.

"You're beautiful" Greg said, feeling that that was the only thing that could be said.

Nick padded forward and nudged Greg's thigh and cocked his head towards the area where the boundary line began, telling him that he needed to go. Greg nodded his head in understanding and cradled Nick's clothes to his chest, making sure he had a dead-grip on them so that he wouldn't lose a single article of clothing.

"Be careful"

Nick looked to have nodded his head before shooting off around the front of the building. He waited until he heard the guards notice Nick and start chasing after him, most likely stripping as they ran.

Taking a deep breath Greg bolted around the building and began sprinting, all the while praying in his head that Nick was alright.

Nick was having similar thoughts. The two guards were right on his tail and he was starting to worry that he wouldn't be able to make it back to Greg. In the distance Nick could see a mountain of sand and quickly hightailed his way over there, intending on losing them on the turnaround.

Bounding up the mountain, sand spitting behind him he bounded across the mountain and just as he was about to run down the slope one of the wolves pounced and managed to tackle him to the sand.

A fight ensued between the two until the other guard got in on the fight and managed to pin Nick to the sand.

_'You have not been cleared to leave!' _the guard above him said, in an annoyed voice like he was reminding a child that they couldn't go out because they were grounded.

_'Well let's just say that I don't like being held prisoner!' _Nick retorted, continuing to struggle under their paws. He even resorted to nipping, which made him feel like a child.

_'You are not a prisoner Nick, neither is your mate! The council is simply trying to protect you from harm'_ the second guard insisted.

Nick, not willing to become a prisoner again was forced to take drastic measures, or rather desperate measures. As soon as he saw an opening he lunged for the wolf on top of him throat and managed to sink his teeth into the guard's throat. Blood seeped from the wound and into Nick's mouth, resulting in sliding down his throat leaving a coppery taste behind.

The wolf that Nick had his teeth in howled in anger and pain. In retaliation the other guard lunged at Nick and bit down into Nick's back, forcing Nick to let go of the guard and howl in agony. Whipping around, Nick pounced onto the guard that had attacked him and swiped his claws across the guard's snout, leaving behind a bloody trail.

Greg was only a few meters away from the car when he heard the first howl and he abruptly stopped in his tracks, turning in the direction of the howl. He prayed to mother moon that Nick wasn't hurt and the wolf inside him was scratching from the inside to run and protect his mate. Logically, he knew that he was no match for the two guards and he would only be endangering himself and risking more harm to Nick and also endangering the life of the child inside him, but he couldn't run away while his mate needed him.

Making up his mind he dropped Nick's clothes and stripped down before getting down on all fours and changing into his wolf.

When he was changed he sprinted back to the building, wildly looking around for his mate and when he didn't see him anywhere he smelled around the place, while keeping his ears open, until he came across Nick's scent.

Following the scent, with his nose pointed down, following the direction the scent went. The farther he got out in the desert the more he could hear a struggle going on not too far away. A little further ahead he could finally make out three wolves, one being his mate and the other two the guards. Without thinking Greg sprinted towards the fight and pounced onto the wolf that currently had Nick pinned. Him and the other wolf tumbled to the sand, a cloud of sand erupting around them.

Seeing this as his chance Nick leaped up and clamped his teeth onto the gruff of his neck and gently push pressure on the spot.

_'Submit!' _Nick shouted, adding more pressure.

The wolf finally whined and lowered his head in submission. Nick released the wolf and the wolf got up from the sand and scrambled away from Nick, his partner stood in front of Greg, not quite sure what to do, he hadn't expected that sudden action.

_'Leave now or I swear I won't let you off as easily as I did your buddy'_ Nick threatened.

With a growl the guard begrudgingly backed away and with one final glare, of some sort, chased after his partner.

Once the two wolves were out of sight Nick padded over to Greg and began looking his body over for any injuries, while ranting in his head about what a stupid thing Greg had done.

_'You could have gotten yourself killed Greg! I told you to go to the car and wait for me there but instead you came running here! Why would you do something like that Greg! Why!' _ Nick ranted, he was relieved when he found that Greg had no visible injuries but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to be on the lookout for any internal injuries.

Greg nudged Nick away from him and assessed Nick's body for injuries and he was infuriated when he saw the blood seeping from a wound on Nick's back.

_'I heard a howl and I wasn't going to just run away while you could potentially be hurt and it would seem that I was right! You couldn't honestly think that I was going to stand by while you obviously needed my help!'_ Greg retorted.

Biting his tongue to keep his own retort in because Nick knew that they needed to get out of here he changed the conversation.

_'We need to get out of here and to the crime lab. I'm pretty sure that Grissom has already left for the scene but I can call him on the way for directions'_ Nick then nudged Greg forward and they ran to Elliot's car.

When they arrived at the car both changed back and began changing back into their clothes. It was while Nick was attempting to pull his shirt on that the bite on his back began to bother him. Greg noticed Nick's pain, completely dressed by now, and was at his side in a second, checking Nick's injury.

"Get in the car, I'll check and see if Elliot has a first aid kit in the car" before Nick could say anything Greg was already at the trunk, having somehow unlocked the trunk and was rummaging around in it.

"Greg we don't have time! Those two guards have probably already alerted the council by now and have men already on their way! We need to get out of here!" Nick reasoned, resting his palm on top of the car and watching Greg look for the elusive kit.

"Well we can't have you bleeding to death!" Greg gave up on finding the kit in the trunk and resorted to getting into the car and looking around inside.

"I'll be fine Greg! And if worst comes to worse Doc Robbins can patch me up when we get back to the lab" Nick bargained, getting more anxious by the second the longer they were still here.

A cry of triumph came from the car and a pale green first aid kit was shown through the backseat window of the car. As Greg was backtracking out of the car Nick glanced a look behind him and saw that the guard who had growled at Nick, now in human form was headed their way.

"Greg stay in the car" Nick said, opening the driver's seat and slipping inside.

"Why?" Greg asked, still attempting to get out of the car.

"Because that one guard from earlier is headed our way and I don't think he wants to help you play doctor" Nick pried the plastic of the car under the steering wheel off and began attaching wires together to make the car start.

Greg was about to come up with something along the lines of a three-way when he finally looked up and noticed the guard coming, and he did not look like he had good intentions.

Just as Nick was about to give up on the car and prepare himself for a fight the car miraculously started, quickly putting the car in drive he stepped on the gas and floored out of there. In the back he could hear Greg, who hadn't been prepared for the sudden acceleration, be slammed up against the backseat, the kit slipped from his hand and clattered onto the floor.

"You okay Greg?" Nick asked, looking up in the rearview mirror.

"Yeah, just got the wind knocked out of me" picking up the kit Greg climbed into the passenger seat and buckled himself in.

It was a few minutes of silence later that Greg spoke.

"You need to pull over at some point so I can take a look at that wound on your back, preferably before we get to the crime scene or you die from blood loss" Greg said, and just to prove his point he pointed at the very noticeable blood puddle that was developing in the crack of the seat Nick was sitting in.

Admittedly Nick was feeling a little lightheaded so he pulled over on the side of the desert road but kept the engine running in case they needed to make a sudden escape.

Greg unlatched the kit and sorted through the supplies, pleased with what he found he told Nick to get in the back and to lay on his stomach. Nick followed his instructions and when he felt Greg climb into the back and practically straddle Nick from behind he became aroused at the feel of Greg's cock against his back thigh.

"We don't have time for that Nick, I'm just going to patch you up and then we need to get to the crime scene" Greg said as he finally got a good look at Nick's injury.

The wound didn't look as serious as he had thought but Nick would need a few stitches but since he couldn't find a needle and thread in the kit, no surprise, he was going to have to make do with what he had.

Picking up the small bottle of anesthetic and a cotton ball Greg doused the cotton with the fluid then hovered the soaked ball over Nick's wound.

"This is going to sting" Greg warned.

Greg gently dabbed at the wound, eliciting a small hiss from Nick and his face to scrunch up in pain, when he surmised that he had cleaned the wound up as well as he could he leaned over, wound down the window, and threw the cotton ball out. Reaching back towards the kit he grabbed a pad of gauze and surgical tape and taped the bandage down.

"You're all set, just try not to put too much pressure on it" Greg said, closing the kit and getting off of Nick.

Nick sat up and just as he was about to climb back into the driver's seat Greg stopped him by putting his hand on his shoulder.

"I'm driving-" Nick was about to protest but Greg silenced him with a kiss "and you are going to stay back here and rest" before Nick could protest again Greg climbed into the driver's seat and looked at Nick pointedly from the rearview mirror.

"Buckle up" he turned away before he could see the playful glare Nick shot him but was satisfied when he heard a click from the back.

Smiling to himself he stepped on the gas and turned back onto the road and sped back towards Las Vegas.

When the tape was finished Grissom was silent. Warrick waited for him to absorb this information and when he did he didn't let the video of Nick and Greg in their crime scene get to him because he spoke in his calm manner voice.

"When Nick and Greg get here we will have a serious discussion about this and I'm sure all of this will be sorted out" he then turned and just as he was about to exit he turned back to face Warrick.

"Take that tape as evidence and get Archie to take a look at it but don't let Ecklie find out about this, we don't want another repeat of Kristen's case" he then left the room and went back to looking over the crime scene for more evidence.

Greg and Nick pulled up about a block away from the crime scene. Parking the car Greg stepped out of the car. It was then that Nick realized he was shirtless and people would definitely be staring if he got out of the car. Greg noticed Nick's hesitation and picked up on Nick's reason, and though Greg would definitely not have a problem with a shirtless Nick other people wouldn't be as appreciative. So Greg came up with a plan.

Turning to Nick he spoke

"You stay in the car and I'll go see if I can get a shirt for you" Greg leaned over and pecked Nick on the cheek then got out of the car. Looking around Greg saw that there was no stores that looked like they sold clothing, especially since most of them were bars or drug stores but there was one lone psychic shop that was open for business.

Just as he was about to give up on getting Nick a shirt he spotted Warrick and another idea came to mind. Beginning to walk towards the man he was suddenly stopped by an officer who told him that he was going to have to stay behind the tape, just as he was about to get into it with the officer Warrick spotted him and walked over to them.

"Greg 'bout time you got here! Where's Nick?" he asked, looking around to see if he was simply standing someplace else.

"He's in the car but listen Nick had an accident and I had to use my boy-scout skills and patch him up but we kind of left Nick's shirt behind and I was just hoping that you had an extra he could borrow?" Greg asked, all in one breath.

At the mention of Nick hurt Warrick tuned the rest of Greg's rambling out.

"Wait a sec, Nick's hurt? How badly?" Warrick asked, stepping under the tape and stopping in front of Greg, who had taken a step back.

The officer, now completely forgotten about figured that since the CSI clearly knew the guy and didn't appear to need his assistance walked away and went back to watching over the civilians who had gathered, to make sure none of them tried to get past to get a better look and contaminate evidence.

"He's fine Warrick, he may need to visit Doc Robbins to get some stitches but otherwise he's fine. I cleaned the wound and put bandage over it so it wouldn't get infected" Greg assured him, taking a glance at Elliot's car, where Nick currently resided, just to assure himself that he was indeed alright.

Warrick followed his line of sight and saw the red Cadillac that had caught Greg's attention. Walking past Greg Warrick made his way over to the car, with Greg in tow. Getting closer to the vehicle Warrick could see Nick in the backseat, shirtless, and by the looks of it he was very self-conscious of that fact by the way he had his arms wrapped around his mid-section. But when he saw the blood stained driver's seat he became even more concerned, he turned back to face Greg with a worried look on his face.

"I thought you said the wound wasn't that serious?" he questioned, turning back to look at the car.

"It's not, the wound is on his back and he was driving so the blood trailed down his back from the wound and resulted in leaving the blood on the seat" Greg explained.

Shaking his head Warrick walked around the car and stopped beside the right side of the car's backseat, hunching down he looked through the window and saw Nick looking back at him, in return Nick gave him an impish smile.

Nick unlocked the door and stepped outside. Warrick took a step back to give him room and Greg was now standing beside Nick.

"Hey man" Nick said, averting his gaze to the road.

"Where were you guys? All Grissom said was that you two suddenly had a family emergency and you Nick, practically demanded that you give you and Greg the time off, claiming that they had a lot of overtime hours that needed to be used up" Warrick questioned.

Suddenly feeling like they were being interrogated Nick looked up at his friend and felt a rush of defiance.

"Look, Greg and I needed that time off! Our families really needs us right now but instead Grissom forces us to come back here and help out on a case! You guys are lucky that Greg and I didn't just blow you guys off because of the shit we've been through lately has me seriously reconsidering my position here!" Nick ranted, becoming red in the face.

Warrick was shocked into silence by his friend's outburst. He knew that Nick could be a hothead but this was one of the rare times that he had been on the receiving end of one of his outbursts. Greg on the other hand had seen this confrontation coming the second Warrick had brought up Nick's meeting with Grissom.

Before Nick could make another retort Greg stepped in, not wanting another outburst to occur, people were only just starting to look away from them.

"Warrick, Nick and I have been under a lot of stress lately and we just really needed to get away and when our families called, practically begging us to come visit them because of an emergency, it was a blessing in disguise. Please don't hold Nick's outburst against him, we both just wanted some time off but in the end work came calling and we're just a little upset. Now if it wouldn't be too much we were hoping that you had an extra shirt that Nick could borrow? At least until we get back to the lab?" Greg asked.

Warrick looked back at Nick and saw that he had gone back to staring intently down at the road, purposely avoiding Warrick's gaze, either because he was embarrassed of his actions or he was still pissed off and didn't want to risk another outburst. His guess was the latter.

"Yeah, I have one in my Denali" remembering that Grissom wanted to speak with Greg and Nick he added "Grissom wants to speak with you two" he then turned and walked over to his parked Denali to get his spare shirt.

When he was out of earshot Greg turned and stood in front of Nick, waiting until he looked up to face him.

"I know what you're going to say Greg, I know I lost my temper but I'm just so sick of people treating me like I'm some kind of criminal" Nick explained, finally meeting Greg's eyes.

"You have a right to be mad Nick but taking that anger out on your friends isn't the answer, it will only make more problems" Greg said.

Nick nodded in understanding and engulfed Greg in a hug, placing a kiss on the skin behind his ear, he pulled back when he saw Warrick was coming but didn't look back at the road.

Warrick stopped in front of the pair and handed Nick a black T-shirt. Nick thanked him and gently pulled the shirt on, grunting a little when the fabric rubbed up against the bandage covering the wound.

"Since you guys don't have your ID on you your going to have to come with me so that I can verify the cops that your with the crime lab" as he was about to turn Nick spoke

"I'm sorry Warrick, I shouldn't have yelled at you. I've just been having some hard times lately and I guess you were the unfortunate outlet for my anger" Nick apologized, he extended his hand in a form of peace.

Warrick licked his lips then accepted the handshake, and the apology.

"S' alright man, we all have times like that" Warrick replied, letting go of the hand.

Following Warrick's lead Greg and Nick followed Warrick towards the crime scene and while they were walking a sudden feeling of being watched came over Greg and he felt a vision coming on. Stopping where he was his eyes took on a clouded look and his mouth was in the shape of an oval.

**Flashing lights of police cars and one lone ambulance were flashing off the sides of buildings and officers were talking. **

**The vision suddenly wavered, like an old film, and the focus of the vision was set on three people, Greg, Nick and Warrick. **

**The point of view changed again and a black gloved hand came into view holding a plain white folded up piece of paper. The hand placed the paper on the road.**

The clouds left Greg's vision and he took in a large intake of breath.

This had been no regular vision, Greg had just seen though the eyes of someone. Most likely the hunter who had come to take a look at his handiwork.

"Greg?" said a concerned Nick.

Warrick was standing behind Nick, confused as hell as to what was going on with Greg.

Not wanting Warrick to overheard Greg pulled Nick closer by the collar of his shirt and whispered in his ear.

"He's here Nick, he was watching us" Greg released Nick and watched Nick's eyes widen.

Nick took a moment to look around, he may not know what the hunter looked like but he was hoping he could see if anyone fit the look of a suspicious man.

"Um you guys? What's going on?" Warrick asked, taking a step forward.

Without answering Greg suddenly took off and Nick and Warrick followed after him, wondering what he was doing.

"What's going on Nick? Does this have something to do with the case?" Warrick continued asking questions. Nick didn't answer him, being too concerned with Greg.

Greg finally stopped when he came to the familiar setting from his vision and saw the piece of paper lying on the ground, waiting for him.

"Warrick I need gloves" he requested, holding his hand out for the requested item.

More confused than ever he reached into his vest and got out a new pair of gloves and placed the items in Greg's waiting hand. Slipping the gloves on Greg picked up the paper and unfolded it, what he read made his blood run cold.

_The war has come._

_I'll be watching you Seer._

Things were about to get a lot worse.

**A/N: There you have it chapter five! And you know my usual drill, review if you want more because reviews make the world go round and round and round and round...**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for the help and advice Holly!**

Greg slowly stood up from his crouch and looked directly at Nick before walking away from him, the letter dangling limply from his hand. The lights flashed across his face as he walked away in a daze. For some reason he found himself headed towards the psychic's shop.

The closer he got to the shop the more intense the fumes of incense got, making his eyes water. No matter how long he may have endured year's and year's worth of incense coming from his aunt Olaf's study sessions of palm and tarot reading of his own, but that didn't mean he ever got used to it.

Stopping in front of the shop he saw the neon sign flashing, closed. But that wasn't going to deter him from entering. He could smell wolf from a mile away, practically oozing off the building in waves.

Raising his hand, he knocked on the metal door that had bars overlapping the actual door to prevent people from getting in after hours. The clicking of locks could be heard and the door behind the bars opened to reveal a short old woman about 4'5, wearing the cliché gypsy outfit of the red fabric shawl around the shoulders, thrift store skirt and gown with mismatching designs and old worn down brown boots. Her graying hair was done up in a bun and the only make-up she had on was a light shading of light purple eye-shadow.

"I've been expecting you Gregory" she said in a wispy voice, induced with wisdom of experience and knowledge.

She reached out of eye distance and she must have pressed a button because the bars on the door rolled up and stuttered back into place on the top of the doorway. Stepping inside she closed the door behind him and reactivated the bars.

The smell of incense was much more intense and he had to fight the urge to cover his nose that was being attacked by the intense fruity fumes.

She walked past Greg, who was standing idly in front of the door, looking around at the small shop. The floors were made of creaky wood that had several scratches and faded areas from over the years. The walls were covered in many occult objects astrology symbols, Tai Chi symbols that were painted in deep black and many other items. There were shelves on both sides of the room that held a rack of incense and an already lit one that was flowing the musty smell through the room. There were rows and rows of books on the craft of palm reading, mythologies etc.

Further on there was a doorway with a beaded curtain hanging in front. Inside it had a small rounded table with two wooden chairs on either side, with a moon decorated silk cover draped over it.

The woman entered the room first; the beads clinking together and she made herself comfortable in one of the chairs. Without having to be told Greg entered the room and saw that she had a stack of Tarot cards in front of her.

"Normally I do the readings, but I have a feeling that you'll want to do your own" she said knowingly, pushing the stack of cards towards him.

Sitting down Greg selected three cards and laid them out in front of him in a row, representing the past, present and future. With shaking hands Greg reached and revealed the first card, past.

"The lovers. Nick and I fell in love and for the first time I felt complete" Greg said, his throat closing up in anxiety of what the next card would reveal. The old woman watched the young seer, apprehension surrounding her aura.

With the same shaking hands Greg revealed the next card, the present.

"The tower. The hunter came back and now Nick and my life is out of balance" his heart rate continued to accelerate and Greg wanted nothing more than to stop the reading right there but he knew that he had to finish it, he had to know what his future held.

With a large gulp and an exhalation of breath Greg reached out and turned over the final card. Tears almost sprang in his eyes when he saw his fortune. Tears of fear and sorrow.

"Death" he looked up from the card and over at the woman across from him. A look of pity crossed her features before returning to neutral.

"This card can mean many things Gregory an unwelcome change, renewal...destruction but it doesn't necessarily mean your death. This could depict many, many years from now" she tried to assure the young seer but even she knew that the chances of that were low.

Standing up from the table Greg ran a hand through his hair and began to pace the room, something he had been doing a lot today.

"Not in my case" stopping he turned and faced the old psychic who had been watching him from the table.

"I saw myself being tortured by...him and he had this sadistic gleam in his eyes! I don't make it out of that cabin, alive. No, I think he somehow plans to use me against Nick, whether it's to kill me and infuriate Nick to the point where he's careless enough to get killed or its to get rid of the one person who can see his future movements" collapsing back into the chair he held his head in the palms of his hands.

"Or maybe he wants me for something else" he subconsciously brought one of his hands down and placed it on his stomach.

A sudden feeling of protectiveness came over him and he shook his head, as if denying the very idea. Looking up from the table he appeared to be addressing the woman across from him but in his mind he was talking to the hunter.

"He'll have to kill me before he gets the chance" he stated, bound determination coating his very aura and his eyes were ablaze with the pure protectiveness he felt towards his unborn child.

The woman got up from the table and walked out of the room, only to return a few moments later carrying a bracelet of sorts with her and an amulet that had a very intricate design. When she got closer she placed the bracelet on the table then walked behind Greg and placed the amulet around his neck.

"This is the crescent and hand amulet, it will protect you against the dangers you will be facing" she explained. When the amulet was secure she stepped back and walked back to the bracelet and picked it up.

"This is a cord charm, for your child. You can placed it around their wrist, ankle or even as a necklace and it will stay on until the time comes where it will fall off when they have reached the age where they can face the evil in this world. No sooner shall it be taken off" she said, taking one of his hands and placing the charm in his palm.

Standing up from the chair he gave the woman a heartfelt hug, truly stunned at the compassion this woman had shown him. Through his job he had only seen the evils of the world and the only kindness he knew was from his friends from the lab, and Nick, but no one outside that circle.

"Thank you for your kindness..." it was then that he realized that he didn't even know her name.

"I'm sorry I don't even know your name" he said.

"Jocelyn" she said, a kind smile lighting up her features.

"Thank you so much Jocelyn, I wish there were more kind people like you in this world, although I wish our meeting wasn't under such...tragic circumstances" Greg said, his happiness at the remembrance of his impending death dampening his elation.

"That is only a possible future Gregory, there are still many roads that have yet to be taken" she reached for the table and picked up the stack of tarot cards, adding the three cards from his reading, to the pack and handed them to Greg, who gave her a stunned look.

"Your future can always change Gregory" she said, patting him on the back before walking over to another door in the room that was hidden by a drape. Before she left she looked back at him.

"I hope your future changes for the better" she gave him one last meaningful look before opening the door and slipping through the crack.

Pocketing the items Greg walked out of the room and back through the front of the shop, his aura a much darker color then when he came in; seeking advice he didn't know he needed.

Stopping in front of the door, he made sure to compose himself before facing Nick again. As he had told himself before he couldn't let Nick know about the hunter coming for him, especially his impending death. Taking a breath Greg grasped the knob and turned the handle, stepping out into the Las Vegas streets he plastered a casual look on his face, making sure there weren't any cracks in his mask, he turned and started heading back to where he had last seen Nick and Warrick.

~Back to Warrick and Nick~

Warrick watched in confusion as Greg walked away and turned to Nick who only had a look of concern.

"What the hell is going on man?" he demanded, no longer wanting to be out of the loop.

Nick sighed and shook his head. "Just leave it alone man, just leave it alone" and much like Greg he was about to hurry after him but before he could Warrick blocked his path, a look of determination in his eyes.

"You honest to god think I'm going to just 'let this go' whatever's going on man, you can trust me! Hell I might even be able to help you, the whole team can!" Warrick insisted, praying that Nick would let him in on the secret.

What Warrick was suggesting was damn near laughable. Help them? If Warrick or the any other humans got involved in this there was sure to be blood spilt and he'd be damned if he was going to lose any of his closest friends, or any other human for that matter.

Looking up at his older friend he bit his bottom lip and pinched his eyes shut before opening them back up. "What do we got?" he asked, changing the subject to the case at hand.

Warrick was confused for a second before he caught on to what Nick was asking and huffed in disbelief but decided that he would confront him about it again later.

"Multiple 419's. Someone went into club Moonlight and shot the place up, 40 DB's and so far all we have is a lot of bullets, a shoddy description of the shooter and...oh yeah a security tape with you and Greg entering the club 45 minutes before the shooting began" Warrick concluded, staring at Nick, piercingly.

Nick looked around the area and realized that the area did look familiar; he mentally cursed himself for not noticing earlier. This was getting way too close to the pack's current problem and he knew without a doubt that the hunter was responsible for this.

"Look 'Rick, yes Greg and I did stop by here but it was to see a friend and no I can't tell you the reason. Please just focus on this case, not on Greg and I" looking over Warrick's shoulder Nick saw Greg approaching and without a thought brushed past Warrick and in a matter of seconds was standing before Greg, his concern for the young man evident.

"He did this Nick, he gunned down members of our pack like animals and..." emotion crept into Greg's voice and tears, tears of frustration, anger and sorrow at the events that were transpiring, pooled in his eyes.

Nick pulled Greg into his arms and Greg rested his head in the crook of Nick's neck and clung onto Nick's shirt. Nick cupped the back of Greg's neck and murmured soothing things into his ear and Greg finally let his emotions out. His anger at the hunter for coming back and royally screwing up their lives, the council for putting all this pressure on Nick to take on his alpha status, the frustrating longing to tell Nick about the baby and lastly himself, it was because of his vision that they had even gone to the council in the first place.

"Nick! Greg!" someone shouted.

Reeling in his emotions Greg pulled away and wiped the remaining tears from his eyes. Turning around they faced Grissom who was walking towards them, a field kit in his hand.

Stopping in front of them he handed Nick the kit and spoke.

"When we get back to the lab the three of us are going to have a very long discussion in my office. Now Nick I want you to go and start collecting all the bullets and Greg since you still need field training I want you to take Nick's notes" finishing handing out their assignments he turned and headed back towards the club.

Sighing Greg turned to face Nick.

"Are you going to be okay?" Nick asked, prepared to follow Grissom right now and tell him that he would do the scene but to allow Greg to leave.

"Yeah, yeah I'll be fine…besides we owe it to them" Greg pecked Nick on the lips before turning and heading towards the club. Nick followed after him and when he was close enough ducked under the tape and walked inside the club.

When he entered the club he looked around and saw Sara behind the bar, Catherine photographing a spray of blood on the floor, Grissom examining a bullet hole and lastly Greg standing in the middle of the room looking around at his surroundings.

Nick walked over to him and set his kit down. Getting two pairs of gloves out he handed Greg one of the pairs and they both slipped the gloves on. He then got his camera out and a notepad and handing the notepad to Greg watching where he was going. He began searching the scene for more bullets. Bullet collections was more of a rookie job but he assumed that this was punishment for the disrespect he had shown towards his superior and since both of them had been scene at the crime scene.

Stopping when he saw a bullet he crouched down and looked around at the other bullet casings that another teammate had catalogued. He saw that they were up to two bullets so far. Getting out a plastic card that had a bold 3 and also getting a plastic measuring stick he placed the measurer beside the bullet along with the plastic 3 and took the picture.

Picking the bullet up, he held the bullet at eye-level. With his advanced eyesight he was able to see that the bullets had no serial number and it was silver. It was only a guess but he was willing to guess that all the bullets were handmade and without a doubt all belonged to the hunter. Also the bullet had a strange scent coming off of it, one he couldn't pinpoint but he had a feeling that whatever the scent was it wasn't wolf friendly.

Standing upright, he handed Greg the bullet to put in a manila folder. Keeping his voice to a volume so low that only their heightened sense of hearing could hear the conversation.

"These bullets have no serial number meaning they were handmade" Greg was about to write that information down but thought better of it and closed the notepad and tucked the pen away in his pocket.

"They look to be made of silver but luckily for us silver bullets only work in the movies, anyway I could smell something foreign coming off of the bullet and I'm pretty sure that the hunter has his own special ingredient" Nick added, having a quick look around them to make sure that someone wasn't coming their way before looking back at Greg.

"We can't let them get involved in this Greg" Nick stated, a plan already formulating in his mind.

Greg was silent, pondering over Nick's words. He knew that he was right, allowing their team to investigate this was too dangerous and if they started investigating they could find something that could blow their secret.

"How are we going to cover this up Nick? There's too much evidence!" Greg ranted, struggling to keep his voice low.

Nick looked around at their teammates and their field kits and vests where precious evidence was being stored. He knew where they stored their kits and where all the evidence would be kept. By simply breaking the evidence seals all the evidence would be contaminated and no longer be accepted in court.

Looking back at Greg he made a decision.

"I'm going to take care of if it, okay? Everything's going to be okay, I promise" Nick promised, knowing they were on the clock and would likely get in trouble. Nick had settle with giving Greg a simple hug and a very discrete kiss on the side of his head before pulling back and smiling at him reassuringly.

Greg looked at him confused, what was Nick going to do?

"Nick what are you going to do?" he asked, his voice still below the range of human hearing.

Touching him on the shoulder Nick reassured him once again.

"Just trust me okay? I'll take care of everything" knowing that they needed to get back to work Nick placed the bullet in his TAC vest presumed his duty of picking up the bullets and tagging their marked areas then taking a picture.

6 hrs. later they had finally finished investigating the scene they loaded up their collected evidences and rode back to the lab. Nick and Greg left the Cadillac behind and rode in Warrick's Denali. Warrick continued to shoot Nick strange looks but made no comment the entire ride.

When they got back to the lab everyone signed in their evidence then brought the evidence into the layout room and got to work.

"So we have a total of 110 bullets, 50 bullet holes, no useable fingerprints, a tape that doesn't give us a clear shot of the suspect and a fuzzy description" Catherine summed up.

They had gone over the tape in Archie's lab but Grissom had made sure to only show the part of the shooter and not the part about Nick and Greg. He had been sworn to secrecy and so the only people who knew that Nick and Greg had even been at the club was Grissom, Warrick and now Archie and of course Nick and Greg.

"What about the owner? Elliot Frenchez? He wasn't at the club during the shooting and his whereabouts are unknown. He could have come to the club and shot the place up for the insurance" Sara said, looking down at Elliot's file.

"Maybe but we need to look for other suspects, see if anyone has a grudge against Elliot or against the club, find anything that might make someone shoot the club up" Grissom said, still wanting to look at all the possibilities.

"Maybe it was a club goer they were targeting, they followed this person into the club and first killed that person then to cover their tracks shot the entire place up" Greg suggested. He immediately bit his tongue, cursing himself for suggesting the idea that they look into the clubbers backgrounds.

"That would be a good idea but we only have the identities of the people in CODIS and that's only ten people leaving 30 John and Jane Do's" Warrick retorted.

"Well it's the only thing we have so Warrick I want you to dig into those people's backgrounds and see who they might have pissed off at some point, Catherine I want you to go over the bullets with Dawson, see if those bullets have been used in any other cases, Sara I want you to go back to the crime scene and see if we missed anything and Nick and Greg I want you to come with me into my office, we need to have a talk" once the assignments were assigned everyone got started on their assigned tasks and Nick and Greg followed Grissom to his office.

When they arrived at his office Grissom opened the door and walked inside, once Greg and Nick were inside he closed the door behind them and walked behind his desk to sit down. Nick and Greg sat down in the chairs across from him.

"What is this about Grissom?" Nick asked, though he had an idea. And from the look Grissom sent him he knew that he knew as well.

"What were you two doing at the club?" he asked, getting straight to the point, in no mood to skirt around the subject. Two men, one a CSI 3 and a CSI in the making, had been at a club where only an hour after they had left a massive killing had happened.

He wanted answers, now!

The room was silent for some very painful moments before Greg spoke, looking down at the floor, unable to meet Grissom's eyes.

"Nick and I were visiting a friend, Elliot Frenchez. We were off duty and we close to the club so we decided to go check the club out and catch up with Elliot while we were talking we all decided to go back to my place and hang out" Greg said, knowing how bad it sounded.

Grissom's brow scrunched up in anger and he took his glasses off and massaged the beginnings of a painful migraine.

"Do you know where he currently is?' Grissom asked, pinching the bridge of his nose, his eyes closed.

Greg sighed and said yet another lie.

"No"

They were shocked when Grissom slammed his fist down on the desk and snapped his eyes open, his eyes blazing with anger. Grissom hardly every lost his temper and when he did it was only ever for especially bad situations, this was obviously one of those times.

"Damn it you two! Do you have any idea of how much trouble you'll be in if Ecklie gets wind of this? He'll have your jobs and an entire investigation will be done not only on you but every single case you've ever been on!" he ranted, subconsciously rising from his chair.

Nick rose to their defense, the wolf in him not liking at all being treated like they currently were.

"We have no fucking idea where he is all right! He left Greg's apartment at 1:00 that night and I spent the night at Greg's because I was too drunk to drive home! Are you satisfied now! Yes we were at the club, yes we left with Elliot and yes we do realize what a shitty situation we're in we don't need you reminding us!" Nick practically screamed, becoming red in the face and holding on to a string at keeping his wolf from coming out.

He almost didn't feel Greg grab his wrist and massage the sensitive area where his wrist began. The soothing action began to calm down and slowly lowered himself back into his chair. Greg continued to massage the area, wanting to keep Nick as calm as possible.

"Believe me Grissom if we knew where Elliot was we would tell you but Elliot would never do something like this! He's not a saint but he would never kill anyone, especially not his own clubbers, he's too damn selfish for that because by killing his regulars he pretty much kisses his money goodbye" Nick added, his voice only slightly calmer.

Grissom lowered himself back into his chair and put his glasses back on, opening his eyes and the blinding migraine nearly making him want to shut them again.

"The two of you are off this case, if I have any more questions I'll call you but as of right now I want the two of you to go back to your apartments and stay there, your suspended without pay for three weeks" Grissom decided, seeing no other choice. He was expecting a fight, especially from Nick but was surprised when he received none, not even a gasp of disbelief.

Both stood up from their seats and headed for the door.

"See you in three weeks Grissom, you know where you can find us only I'll be staying at Greg's, just so you know" Nick said, casually throwing the last part over his shoulder. Nick and Greg both left the room.

Instead of going after them Grissom opened his desk drawer and got his prescribed medication out of his desk. Popping two pills into his hands he popped them into his mouth and picked up a water bottle he had left there yesterday and swallowed the pills down with the water. When the pills were swallowed he got up from his desk and left his office intent on finding one of his CSI's. He found who he was looking for in the Tech room on the computer going over the known people for any enemies.

"Warrick I have a new job for you" he stated.

Warrick looked up from his computer, his brows arched.

"If it's one of your experiments no way!" he replied.

"No it is not, I need you to follow Nick and Greg and report back to me every hour" Grissom was about to leave but Warrick stood up from his chair and stopped him.

"Why do you want me following them? Aren't they going to be here for hours on end?" he questioned, he also didn't like the thought of spying on two of his good friends.

"Nick and Greg are suspended for three weeks. I just had a discussion with them in my office and I am thinking that they are hiding something from me so I need you to keep an eye on them for me. Now you'd better get moving, they're most likely in the garage by now" before giving Warrick a chance to reply Grissom was out the door and heading back to his office, to continue from there the research on the known victims.

~Out in the desert~

Greg parked his car and Nick and him got out of the vehicle and began their walk towards the boundary line.

"You know Grissom's going to be pissed when he finds out we're not even in the city anymore" Greg commented.

"Probably, but technically he didn't say we couldn't" Nick retorted, a small smile on his face.

Parked a little away from where Nick and Greg had parked sat a black SUV with Warrick Brown behind the wheel. "What the hell are you guys doing?"

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I hope you aren't getting bored with how long it's taking for Greg to tell Nick about the baby but I assure you that Nick will find out about the baby and I have great plans for when he does but you have to hang on until then because there are greater things going on until then. If you are still hanging on thanks, and review if you want more! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Holly, you are awesome!**

**Warning: Major Nick whumpage in this chapter!**

Nick and Greg walked down the dirt path leading to the boundary line and continued to talk to one another about the problem that they were facing.

"What are we going to do now Nicky! We've pretty much just lost our only chance of making sure that the team doesn't get too close" Greg asked, his panic rising at the thought that their team could get themselves killed for simply doing their jobs.

Nick suddenly stopped walking and turned to face Greg, his abrupt stop causing Greg to stop as well.

"We'll figure something out Greg, and if worse comes to worse we can give them a false lead and have them off our backs long enough for us to come up with a way to get them on a completely different path that leads them away from the hunter and our world" Nick said, determination in his eyes.

"So we're going to risk them arresting an innocent person?" Greg asked completely flabbergasted. He knew that they were going to have to do a lot of risky things to ensure their teams safety, but framing someone was not something he had even considered.

"We don't have a choice Greg! We can't get back into the lab to get to the evidence because then Grissom will be watching us and we definitely can't go back to the scene because Sara will be there and we're already on a thin a line as it is!" Nick argued. He didn't like the idea of framing an innocent person anymore then Greg, but it was the only option they had.

Greg had to understand that.

Greg shook his head, deep down he knew that Nick was right, but his morals wouldn't allow such actions to be taken, even if it was the last resort.

Sighing Nick placed his hands on Greg's shoulders and tried to placate his nerves.

"I don't like it either Greg, but until we come up with a better solution this is the only one we have" bending down he placed a calming kiss on Greg's lips and didn't immediately relinquish his contact with Greg before and opted to rest his forehead against Greg's.

"Why did everything have to get so complicated?" Greg whispered.

"I don't know, but I promise you after this is all over I'm going to take you to Hawaii where we can lay on the beach under the sun and make love to you" Nick said huskily, his own words making him become aroused at the image he was giving himself of Greg underneath him, completely naked writhing with need.

He wasn't the only one aroused; Greg's cock was now at full attention, causing painful friction against his zipper. Unable to help himself Greg moaned and latched his mouth to Nick's and Nick mewled in response, cupping the back of Greg's head Nick deepened the kiss and in response Greg clutched the front of Nick's shirt, grinding his erection against Nick's.

The heat began to escalate and Greg slipped his hand under Nick's shirt and began playing with his left nipple causing Nick to groan from his teasing and Greg, if possible, to get even harder. Just when things were about to get even hotter Nick pulled away, gasping for air and his eyes now glazed with lust.

Greg tried to follow his lips but Nick held him at arm's length, shaking his head.

"We have company" he explained in a low whisper.

Before Greg could ask what he meant he was answered by the voice of Elliot who was walking their way, a very pissed off expression on his face.

"Oh please don't let me interrupt, I just have one question...where the hell is my car!" he demanded, stopping in front of them.

Any arousal that Greg and Nick had been feeling was vaporized by Elliot's presence.

Nick turned to face Elliot and answered him, a little hesitantly at the way Elliot was on edge. He could see the yellow glow in his eyes, his wolf wanting to burst forth and punish those for taking what was his. Nick knew he would be able to handle himself but he was more concerned about Elliot going after Greg, who didn't have a lot of experience in fighting.

"We had to borrow it and we sort of left it in the city a block away from your club but there's something you gotta know...the hunter shot up your club and killed 40 pack members" Nick said, looking down at dirt path.

Elliot laughed in disbelief and ran his hands through his hair, leaving it in disarray from the gel still in it. He slapped his hands back to his side and had a crazed look in his eyes.

"My club?" he asked in a higher pitched voice.

"I'm afraid so" answered Nick.

Elliot began to laugh hysterically while Nick and Greg were both becoming concerned for his mental state, thinking that the shock of the death of 40 pack members at his own club had made him go over the edge.

"This is just fucking great! Not only do I not have a car I now don't even have a club! Oh mother moon just strike me now and put me out of my misery!" Elliot ranted, screaming at the top of his lungs falling to his knees at the last part.

Warrick who was watching from his car was sitting in his car, his eyebrows skyrocketing to the top of his head at the meltdown that had just taken place. Unfortunately from his distance he wasn't able to hear what was being said, but whatever it was it had to have been something pretty huge. Another thing that had him shocked was that the man who was freaking out was Elliot Frenchez, a suspect in the killings of over 40 people and it turned out that Nick and Greg knew of his location the entire time.

He was practically forcing himself to remain in the car, feeling that there was something else he had to see.

That something came only moments later.

Elliot was in such a fanatic state of mind that he couldn't keep his wolf in any longer. His eyes glowed a vibrant yellow and he began ripping his clothes off, fur beginning to rise up from under his skin to take over his flesh.

"Elliot you need to calm down! I know things seem bad right now but I promise you, like I promised Greg that everything is going to be okay!" Nick shouted at him. Shouting being the only option because it was the only way to get over Elliot's growling.

Elliot was now on all four, his hands and feet already turned into paws and hind legs. The tail sprouted out of his back, a misty gray and white color fur and the final shredding of clothing was ripped off. His entire torso was that of a wolfs and the final transformations along the face was finishing up, leaving a rabid misty gray and white wolf, snarling and growling. He was in an attack position, preparing himself to leap at Nick.

"Nick, come on!" Greg tried to pull Nick away, not wanting him to get involved in another fight and because he was still recovering from the bite mark on his back. But Nick resisted and stood his ground, not going to show weakness against, what his inner wolf who was on the verge of ripping forth deemed, a lower pack member. His wolf was snarling that he was alpha and that this wolf should show him respect!

With flashing yellow eyes Nick made a move forward, not willing to back down but Greg kept an iron grip on him, not wanting him to risk his life, again!

"Nick don't do this please! I've already patched you up once!" Greg protested; his knuckles chalk white from the force being exerted.

"Don't worry, he won't even touch me!" Nick growled, his wolf's lust to remind Elliot of his status in the pack overtaking his rational human side. This side of Nick was actually starting to scare Greg a little and in his state he accidentally loosened his grasp too much, giving Nick enough room to lunge forward and crash onto Elliot. In a matter of seconds Nick was in his wolf form, clothes shredded to no repair and literally biting into Elliot.

"Nick!" Greg screamed, forced to watch helplessly as his lover and Elliot vicious attack each other. He would have changed right then and there and try to force the two apart but he had his unborn child to protect and he also stood no chance of stopping the fight because he knew that he was one of the weakest, in physical strength, of the pack and he would probably only do more harm than good. Greg backed away from the fighting wolf and stood back to give the guys more space so that they could finish this fight out and allow Nick to show Elliot that he was his alpha and that he had to obey him. It was sick but something that had to be done.

It was when Nick changed into a wolf that Warrick almost had a heart attack, he was freaking out enough when Elliot changed into a wolf that he was checking his sidearm to make sure that he did indeed have it before opening the door and hanging one foot out that a rather large snarl brought his attention back to Nick and Greg that he was greeted by the sight of Nick jumping into the air and crushing into the snarling wolf, if that wasn't heart stopping enough he then watched as Nick changed into a black wolf and continued to attack the misty gray and white wolf that he knew to be Elliot.

He watched as Greg shouted Nick's name and Warrick almost expected that Greg would change next and join in on the fight but was mistaken when Greg backed up and stopped, appearing to be watching the fight, not even fazed by two wolves, who used to be people, fighting!

Warrick watched transfixed as snarls and growls permeated the air, and when he saw blood from a wound that was inflicted on the wolf that was his best friend he managed to get his legs to move and on reflex whipped his gun out and dashed across the sand towards the fight before him.

A familiar smell and the thudding of feet caught Greg's attention and he snapped his head to the right and saw Warrick running in their direction. Nick and Elliot continued to fight, having noticed the new smell but declining to acknowledge, too lost in the fight that was going on and the importance of finishing it.

Bolting up from the sand Greg stopped Warrick from getting any closer, not wanting him to get hurt.

"Warrick what are you doing here!" Greg demanded, fearing that he had seen Nick and Elliot change.

"What the hell is going on Greg because I got to tell you I've seen some pretty fucked up things but this is just...beyond reality!" Warrick said, looking over Greg's shoulder and watching as the wolves continued to fight. His gun was still in the air and was aimed at the two wolves.

"Nothing that concerns you, now you need to put away your gun, turn around and walk away. Just forget everything you saw" Greg pleaded, hoping and praying to mother moon that he would listen to him. But even he knew that that wasn't going to happen in this reality.

By the death glare on Warrick's face his thoughts were confirmed.

"Just tell me what is going on Greg! First I see that you and Nick talking to Elliot Frenchez, then I see Frenchez turn into some fucking wolf and then Nick jumps right into the action and turns into a wolf as well! And this is just a wild guess but you're just like them aren't you?" Warrick accused, pissed off at all the lies and secrets that revolved around Nick and Greg.

By the way Greg was unable to answer and had a guilty look on his face Warrick's suspicion was confirmed.

"I can't believe this" not even caring about the fight going on between his best friend and a possible murder suspect, he lowered his gun and strapped it back in his holster. Turning to leave he began walking away but stopped and went back to standing in front of Greg.

"What are you?" he asked, an intensity in his eyes that Greg had never seen personally except when Warrick was with a particularly nasty suspect.

This was one of the fears that both Nick and him both feared; one of their dear friends finding out. He didn't know what to say, Warrick had seen both Elliot and Nick transform into wolves and he now knew that Greg was also one. He knew that by telling Warrick what they really were he would be putting Warrick in danger because then the council would hunt him down and kill him, they had their ways of finding out things and a breach in the secret would put a death warrant out on Warrick's head and the people/person that had allowed the secret to be revealed.

Annoyed by the silence Warrick said his own guesses aloud.

"Werewolves?" he asked, the first guess coming to mind but looking at the two wolves fighting on the ground he saw that they didn't look anything like the stereotypical werewolves he saw in movies. They looked like ordinary, wild wolves.

"I-I can't tell you Warrick. By telling you it would be like signing not only your death warrant but Nick's, Elliot's and my own. You're better off just walking away and forgetting everything you saw" Greg begged, praying that this time Warrick would back down. But like last time he didn't let it go.

"Who would kill us huh Greg? Who?' Warrick asked, getting right in Greg's face.

Greg turned his head, unable to face Warrick.

"Please just go" he whispered, his resolve beginning to fade.

A howl of agony ripped through the air, capturing the attention of Greg and Warrick. Greg whipped his head back to Nick and Elliot and saw that Elliot was limping away, his left hind leg dragging behind him and leaving a bloody trail behind from a large bite mark on his hip.

Elliot didn't get very far before he collapsed to the desert floor, changing back into his human form and lay panting and shaking in pain. Scratches and bite marks marred his body, bleeding down his tanned skin and staining the sand beneath him.

Nick soon changed back into his human form and picked himself up from the ground. There were various scratches and bite marks on his body that had blood trickling down his bronze skin and when turned his back on them Greg could see that his stitches had broken and blood was practically gushing down his back.

Limping towards Elliot, Nick stopped towering above him with his shadow blanketing over Elliot's body.

"The next time you try and step out of your place I won't be so easy. I'm sorry about your club and your car but I will make sure that everything is made right" Nick offered Elliot his hand and Elliot, sucking his pride, excepted his hand and with a grunt of pain from both was lifted up from the ground and set back on his feet.

"What are we going to do about your friend?" Elliot asked, nodding his head towards Warrick.

Sighing Nick lipped his chapped lips, tasting blood from a split on his lip.

"I'll take care of him, go back to the council's house and get your wounds taken care of" Nick instructed.

Nodding his head Elliot was about to leave but spoke first.

"The council isn't going to like this Nick, you know how they feel about the outsiders have knowledge of our world" Elliot reminded him, not looking forward to another meeting with them.

"Yeah I know, but don't tell them anything! I'll take care of this, this is my problem" Nick requested.

"Just don't fuck this up man, your already on their bad side" and with that Elliot turned and limped away.

Watching him for a few seconds Nick turned and saw Greg coming towards him, worry evident in his features. Stopping in front of him Greg reached out and checked a particularly nasty cut under his eye.

"Elliot's going back to the house, he promises that he won't tell anyone anything about the events that went down" looking over Greg's shoulder Nick could see Warrick standing a few feet away, his gun hanging by his side and his posture tense.

"How much did he see?" Nick asked, his gaze never leaving Warrick.

"Everything" Greg answered, knowing that they were screwed

"He's asking questions, about what we are and what we're doing with Elliot" Greg said, in hushed tones so that Warrick wouldn't over hear. Quite frankly he was surprised that Warrick wasn't stomping over here right now and demanding answers from Nick since Greg was too tongue tied to answer.

"How much did you tell him?" Nick asked, looking back down at Greg.

"I didn't confirm any or deny his theory about what we are and I can only imagine what he's thinking when he saw us with Elliot" Greg answered.

"What does he think we are?"

"Werewolves"

At this Nick had to suppress a smile. That sounded more like something Greg would say but given the circumstances Nick couldn't blame him. Coming to a decision Nick limped past Greg and over to Warrick. Nick was very much aware that he was stark naked but he didn't much care, he was comfortable in his skin that and his clothes were torn to shreds.

Stopping in front of Warrick Nick spoke.

"I know that you have a lot of questions, and believe me I want to answer each and every one of them but if I were to do that my answers would all be lies or half truths and if I did tell you the truth, about everything very powerful people will track you down and kill you" Nick stated.

"So I've been told," He said, casting an eye towards Greg. "But I don't give a damn Nick! Tell me what is going on now. I don't even care that your some kind of wolf creature, I don't, all I want to know is why you kept Elliot's whereabouts a secret, are you helping him?" Warrick demanded, hoping that Greg and Nick weren't helping a suspected murderer.

"You need to back off Warrick! This has nothing to do with you, so if I were you I would turn around and go back to the lab while you still can!" Nick insisted, getting right into Warrick's face.

Warrick was shocked at Nick's attitude; he took a step back and held his hands up in a sigh of surrender.

"Alright fine, I'll go but I'm not letting this go Nick, you know me better than that" Warrick said while walking backwards back to his car.

Greg and Nick watched him go, standing side by side and watched until he was in the car and driving away.

"This is bad Nick, real bad. You know he's going to tell Grissom who will then look deeper into our backgrounds" Greg said, watching Warrick's vehicle until it was out of sight.

"Our day just keeps getting better and better" Nick grumbled. It was then that his vision titled and his head felt like it was filled with cotton. Swaying back and forth Greg supported him and gently lowered him down into a sitting position, not wanting him to lay down and get sand into his wound.

"Nick? Nick!" Greg panicked, looking into Nick's eyes and seeing that they weren't focused and his skin was becoming deathly pale and sweat was gathering at his hairline. All classic signs of major blood loss.

Shit! Greg internally thought.

Hoisting Nick up from the ground by the underarms he managed to get Nick back into a standing position and swing his arm around his shoulder then proceeded to drag Nick towards the Council's house to get him medical help.

"Stay with me Nick, you can't leave me here alone!" Greg grunted under the weight of Nick, repositioning Nick when he started to slip.

It felt like he had been walking for hours but in truth it had only been a few minutes until they finally arrived at the boundary line, without pausing Greg dragged Nick across the line and up the path to the door where the two guards from earlier were standing, glaring down at the pair.

One of the guards, the one that had a beseeming grudge against Nick, stood up from leaning against the door and made his way down the stairs, stopping in front of them while his partner held back.

"Well look who came back, seems like you've finally pissed the wrong person off Mr. Stokes" he sneered, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Just shut the fuck up and let us through! He needs medical attention" Greg growled, making a move to walk past him but the man followed his move and continued to block his path.

"He wouldn't need medical attention if you two had just stayed where you were supposed to" he retorted, a smug smile plastered on his face.

Getting right up in his face he practically snarled "Get out of my way now or I swear to god I will tear you limb from limb and when I'm done with you won't even have an identity!" he threatened, his eyes glowing their dangerous blue.

Practically feeling the power pooling off the wolf before him, he backed off and moved to the side.

Greg dragged Nick up the path and up the stairs and without being asked the other guard held the door open. Greg and Nick entered the door, immediately hearing it shut behind them.

"HELP! I NEED HELP! PLEASE!" Greg screamed, looking around wildly.

Georgina heard the cry for help and stormed down the hallway from her room and out into the front of the mansion to find Greg supporting an unconscious bloody Nick.

"Oh my god!" Dashing to their side she swung Nick's other arm around her shoulder to give more support and started leading them towards the nearest room that had a bed.

"What happened?" she asked, getting closer to the room she knew had a bed.

"Elliot and Nick got into a fight out in the desert. Nick passed out from the blood loss I think and he opened up the stitches on his back" Greg replied, his voice shaking from the fear he was feeling.

Coming up to the room Georgina turned the handle and nudged the door open then stepped inside and helped Greg drag Nick over to the bed. They managed to get Nick to lay down on his side, not wanting to lay him on the back to the gushing wound on his back.

"I'm going to go get my first aid kit and while I'm at that call the doctor, it should only take her a half hour to get here at the most" Georgina said as she backed away from the bed but before she left she told Greg that there was a bathroom on his right and that he should get some damp clothes and a towel to clean Nick up and put pressure on the wound on his back. She then hurried out of the room, cell phone in hand and hurried to her room to get the kit.

Doing what she said Greg hurried away from Nick's side and quickly got the damp washcloths and towel from the bathroom and was back at Nick's side in an instant.

Wadding the fluffy white towel up Greg pressed the towel against the wound on Nick's back and as sick as it sounded he was actually relieved when Nick hissed in pain, meaning that he was still conscious enough to feel pain.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" soothed Greg, kissing Nick on the cheek. Using his free hand Greg took the damp washcloth and held the cloth against Nick's head, trying to relieve some of the heat Nick was feeling.

Georgina returned to the room with the kit in hand and set the kit down on the bed to take out some the small bottle of povidone-iodine and Greg saw that she also had a bowl of water. Looking up at Greg she saw his confused look.

"I went on line while in my room and looked up how to treat the injury and I also found a more fully stocked kit in the kitchen. Just keep pressure on the wound while I go wash my hands" she explained then got up and hurried into the bathroom, the sound of the tap coming on as she cleaned her hands.

Georgina returned and pulled on some latex gloves and instructed Greg to remove the towel and she got to work.

"When will the doctor get here?" Greg asked, standing to the side to give her more room.

"In a few minutes, luckily she was already headed our way, apparently she had another house call from here" she replied picking up a cloth and soaked it with the antiseptic solution.

"You're gonna want to hold his hand, from what I read this stuff is really supposed to sting" she cautioned.

Nodding his head Greg moved to the other side of the bed and took Nick's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze to show Nick that he was there.

Georgina took a deep breath before lowering the cloth to the wound and started scrubbing the wound clean.

Nick cried out in pain and his eyes flew open, pain in his expression and squeezed Greg's hand even tighter.

"I know it hurts but she needs to clean the wound Nicky" Greg leaned down and kissed Nick on the forehead, wishing that they could switch places so that Nick wouldn't have to experience the indescribable pain he was going through.

When the wound was clean Georgina sterilized a pair of tweezers then wiped them off with a cloth from the kit then began removing pieces of rock, sand and other debris from the wound so it wouldn't get infected.

Nick pinched his eyes shut, whimpering in pain.

Just as Georgina was about to go into the next step of the first aid the door opened and Elliot and a woman who looked to be somewhere in her mid 60's entered with Elliot carrying a brown duffel bag.

"I'm Doctor Warner and this must be my other patient. How is he doing?" the elderly woman asked, walking over to Georgina's side of the bed.

"I'm not sure, but he's lucid enough to register pain" Georgina reported, getting up from her knees and gave the doctor more room.

After taking time inspect the wound herself Dr. Warner looked back at Georgina.

"You've done a fine job of taking care of the wound" she complimented.

"Thank you" Georgina replied, flattered at the doctor's words.

Without looking she addressed Elliot.

"Could you please bring me my bag?" she requested.

Elliot limped over to her and placed the bag on the bed then limped over to a chair and sat down.

"Thank you Elliot, and I'll take care of your injuries once I've dealt with his" she thanked him and opened up the bag to reveal different assortments of medical supplies. Getting out a pair of magnifying glasses she put them on and got a closer inspection of the wound on Nick's back. She then took Nick's wrist and checked his heart beat while counting the beats with her watch. She was not happy with how slow his heart rate was.

Releasing his wrist she spoke.

"He's going to need a blood transfusion, does anyone know his blood type?" she asked, looking around.

"B negative" Greg answered automatically.

"Okay then I am going to need blood from an O negative or B negative donor" she looked around the room and when she saw no one coming forward she spoke again.

"Does anyone know if they are a blood match for him?" she asked, a little impatiently. Her patient needed a transfusion now or else he could develop hypovolemia.

Seeing that no one was going to come forward Greg stepped up the challenge, but he knew that if he did this he was risking the health of his baby because he would be taking away some of the baby's life blood.

"I'm O negative, but I need to talk to you, in the hallway" Greg said, knowing that he had to tell her of his current situation.

Standing up from the bed she led them towards the door.

"We'll have to make this talk fast because every second we waste is a second that brings your friend closer to death" she warned opening the door and stepping out into the hallway with Greg. Closing the door behind him he spoke.

"Look, before we do this you have to know of the condition I'm in" he started, nervous that he was about to reveal to another person of his pregnancy.

"Is your condition something that could be infected into Nick?" she questioned, needing to know everything about this 'condition' of his.

"No, you see I'm...I'm pregnant" he admitted, waiting to see what her reaction would be.

After hearing this Dr. Warner was silent, mulling over what she had just been told.

"Since you are pregnant if you were to donate your blood to your friend then you would be putting your child at risk. I'm sorry but I can't allow you to give the transfusion, it will have to be somebody else" she was about to enter the room again but Greg blocked the door with his body.

"You said it yourself! We don't have a lot of time! I'm the only one in that room that knows for a fact that my blood is a perfect match! I know the risks but I can't let him die! Please, you have to let me do this!" Greg pleaded.

Sighing, Dr. Warner looked up at the young man before her.

"I'm sorry but I will not take such risks, we'll have to find another donor" and with that she managed to push the emotionally compromised Greg out of the way and stepped back into the room. Greg stood out in the hallway, his mind in turmoil over what was happening. If Nick didn't get a transfusion soon he would lose him and Greg had the blood that would save him but the damn doctor wouldn't let him!

Maybe he shouldn't have told the doctor about his pregnancy.

Reentering the room, his head down, he closed the door behind him and when he looked up he saw Dr. Warner pricking Georgina's finger and started the test for anything that could harm Nick. A few minutes later she was satisfied and inserted the needle into the crook of Georgina's elbow and taped the needle down to keep it in place.

"Now after the transfusion is done you are to sit down and relax while Greg here goes and gets you some water and anything sweet, like a cookie that will bring up your blood sugar and if you feel dizzy at all tell me" she instructed.

Georgina nodded in understanding and turned to the IV line to watch as the blood traveled up into the bag.

Greg walked further into the room and sat down on Nick's bed, taking his hand in his own. He noticed that Nick appeared to be unconscious and was worried but felt that if it were anything to be concerned about the doctor would be dealing with it, but he felt it safe to point it out the doctor.

"Is it a good thing that he's unconscious?" he asked her.

Dr. Warner looked away from Georgina and back over at Nick. Picking up his wrist once more she counted his BPM's and even though his heart rate wasn't getting any better, it was thankfully not getting any worse.

"His heart rate isn't any worse so it's nothing to be too concerned about, we can't expect him to be able to stay awake with the amount of blood loss he's suffered. Which reminds me that I need to patch up his wound" moving away from Nick she got a roll of surgical thread and a needle and placed them next to her on the drawer. She noticed the bowl of water on the bed but it looked to have been there for a while so she dismissed it and got her own bowl out and handed the bowl to Greg and told him to fill the bowl up halfway with warm water then return the bowl to her.

Greg took the bowl from her and a few moments later returned and handed the bowl back to her.

Dr. Warner then worked on disinfecting the water and five minutes later the water was ready and she got a needle and surgical thread out and got the items disinfected. Threading the needle she returned her focus to Nick and placed a hand on his side to balance him then got to work sewing the wound up.

Nick groaned in his sleep from the sudden pain but he didn't have enough energy to pull away from the unseen cause of pain.

When the wound was sewn up Dr. Warner got a pad of gauze and tape out and placed the gauze over the wound and taped it down so that the wound wouldn't get infected from an outside source. By the time she was finished stitching Nick up the IV bag was full enough with blood and Dr. Warner went about connecting the IV line to Nick and the transfusion began. Now all that was left to do was wait.

"Okay now that Nick is taken care of let's get you taken care of Elliot" lugging her supplies over to where Elliot was sitting she placed the bag down and looked over Elliot's injuries. She saw that his injuries were mainly superficial and would only require some bandages but her main concern was the wound on his thigh, but she would need Elliot to remove his pants to get a better look.

"I'm going to need you to remove your pants Elliot so that I can get a better look at your wound" Dr. Warner explained.

Rather reluctantly Elliot conceded and unbuttoned and unzipped his pants and carefully eased himself out of the garment, grunting in pain when the material scraped against the wound, dragging with it clotted blood and dead skin. When the jeans were off he sat in his black boxer briefs and Dr. Warner thanked him and set to work on cleaning and closing up the wound. Luckily the wound wasn't as bad as it looked and only required ten stitches but she did give him some painkillers, just in case.

Thanking the doctor Elliot stood up and pulled his jeans back on and made his way over to the bed and stopped.

"I'm sorry about what happened Greg, tell Nick that I'm sorry as well" Elliot said, knowing that it was his fault that Nick had almost died.

"It's okay, as Nick told me once that we all lose control sometimes. It's just a part of our nature" and he was right then and he's right now. I just wish he would wake up" Greg looked back down at Nick and lifted the hand he was holding and brought them to his lips to plant a kiss on Nick's knuckles.

"He'll get better Greg, he's strong. That and he has you to come back to you" Elliot said, meaning every word. He knew that in the past he and Nick had never gotten along before but the grudge that he had held against Nick for so long was slowly starting to chip away at the edges and he was actually hoping, which was a shock, that maybe one day Nick and he could be friends.

Deciding to leave Elliot walked away from the bed and over to the door, before he left he turned to face Georgina.

"Hey Georgina, why don't you and I go down to the kitchen and get you some water and something to eat" he suggested.

Picking up on what he was doing Georgina nodded her head and walked over to the door. Opening the door for her Elliot and Georgina left the room leaving Nick, Greg and Dr. Warner.

Putting her supplies away Dr. Warner stood beside the bed and looked down at Nick.

"He should be back at full strength in a few days" she informed Greg.

Greg nodded in understanding but he wished Nick would open his eyes and show him those beautiful chocolate orbs of his.

"While I'm here Greg I would like to examine you to see how your pregnancy is progressing. I'm assuming that you haven't been taking any prenatal vitamins?" she guessed.

"No, I haven't. Can't exactly go to a regular doctor with this" Greg said.

Dr. Warner nodded her head in understanding.

"If you would just lie down on the bed and pull up your shirt we can began" letting go of Nick's hand Greg crawled up onto the bed, so that he was laying next to Nick and rolled up his shirt to expose his stomach.

Dr. Warner walked over to Greg and started gently pressing down on his stomach. Greg groaned in discomfort and had to stop himself from moving away from her probing hands.

"How long have you suspected that you were pregnant?' she asked, continuing to probe his stomach.

"For a few weeks I guess. I've been waking up in the middle of the night and early morning to throw up and when Charmont was talking to me he told me that he knew I was pregnant" Greg answered.

When the doctor was done with her examination she pulled Greg's shirt back down and Greg sat up on the bed.

"What's your prognostic?" Greg asked, anxiously awaiting her answer.

"I can't say for sure without the proper equipment but from what I have been able to do and what you've told me I would have to agree with Charmont. But just to be sure I want you to come back to my post with me where I can do a proper examination" she said.

"N-now? I can't just leave Nick! What if he needs me?" Greg panicked, not wanting to be away from Nick when he was in such a vulnerable state.

"Nick will be fine Greg, he's out of the woods for now and I'll have Georgina looking over him and if anything happens she'll call me and I can be back here in a 25 minutes tops but just in case he should feel anything pain I'm going to leave him a bottle of pain killers" she soothed him as she got a bottle of painkillers out of her duffel and set the bottle on the nightstand. She was beginning to have an inkling that Greg and Nick were more than just friends and that Nick was the father of Greg's child.

Swallowing the lump in his throat Greg looked down at Nick and bent down to plant a kiss on the corner of his lips. Before getting up from the bed and walking around the bed to pick up Dr. Warner's bag.

Following Dr. Warner to the door they left the room and walked down the hallway where they bumped into Georgina and Elliot who were headed back from the kitchen.

"Nicholas is resting peacefully now but I would appreciate if one of you would watch over him and to call me if anything happens, especially if he appears to be in any pain. Here's my number" getting out a pad of paper from her back pocket and a small pen from her breast pocket she wrote her number and tore the paper out and handed Georgina the number.

"The same goes for you Elliot, if you need me just call that number and I'll come right down" she promised.

"Thanks Doc" Elliot said, smiling in gratitude.

Moving past them Greg and Dr. Warner headed for the door but were stopped by the voice of Elliot.

"Greg!" Elliot called.

Greg stopped and turned to face him.

"When you get back you and I need to discuss a few things" Elliot said, a serious look on his face.

Greg knew what he was talking about and nodded.

"Yeah, I should be back in an hour or two. I'll meet you in Nick's room and we can discuss the situation" Greg replied. Turning Dr. Warner and Greg then turned and left.

Warrick was now halfway back to the city when he got his cell phone out and dialed Grissom's number before placing the phone on loudspeaker.

"Grissom"

"Grissom, I followed Nick and Greg like you told me out into the desert. They were with Elliot Frenchez Griss. I don't know what's going on but you and I really need to talk face to face about what I saw down here because I gotta tell you man, I'm having trouble believing it myself" Warrick said, driving into the city limits where he was seeing buildings coming into view.

"Okay Warrick, meet me in my office when you get here, good work" he added before hanging up.

Warrick hung up and went back to focusing on the road.

After 25 minutes of driving Greg and Dr. Warner arrived at her medical post and got out of the silver BMW.

Grabbing her duffel bag out of the trunk Greg followed Dr. Warner up to the front door and stood behind her as she got her keys out and unlocked the door. Stepping inside she closed and relocked the door behind him as he walked deeper into the facility.

"You can just place that bag on the counter over there" she said as she walked by him, pointing towards a relatively clean metal surface. Doing as she said he placed the duffel on the counter and followed her into the backroom where he saw an examination table.

"Get on the table and if you wouldn't mind lifting up your shirt again I want to do an ultrasound" she explained.

Greg got up on the table and lay down, pulling up his shirt to reveal his stomach.

"I'll be right back with the machine" she left the room, leaving Greg alone in the slightly chilly room, bare walls and the feeling of a jail cell.

She returned moments later dragging an ultrasound machine behind her. Stopping when she was standing beside the bed she turned the machine on then picked up the wand and a tube of gel. Squirting a generous amount of gel on the wand she brought the wand down to Greg's stomach and the sudden coldness sent goose bumps along his body and an involuntary shiver up his spine.

"Sorry, should have warned you that this stuff was cold" she apologized.

"S'okay" he replied.

Dr. Warner moved the wand over Greg's stomach and stopped when she came across the still developing fetus.

"And there's your child" she said, moving to the side a little so that Greg could get a better look at the screen.

Greg turned his head and watched the screen.

"From the development of the fetus I'd say that your about five weeks. You can tell by the..." at this point Greg completely zoned out on Dr. Warner because he was too focused on the screen. Sure from what he could see the fetus wasn't any bigger than a sesame seed but it still brought small tears of joy to his eyes at the knowledge that Nick and his baby was growing inside him.

"I'm going to give you some prenatal vitamins now and I want you to start taking them immediately" she said, as Greg slowly starting coming out of his shocked state.

She wiped the gel off the wound and placed it back in its stand before using another wipe and wiping the gel off of Greg's stomach.

Greg pulled his shirt back down and swung his legs over the side of the bed and jumped off of the table.

"I want you to see me again in one week to see how your pregnancy is progressing" she said, writing him a note down in case he forgets. Greg took the paper from her and stuffed the note in his pocket.

"Thanks Dr. Warner, for everything" Greg said sincerely.

"No need to thank me Gregory, I'm just doing my job" she replied.

Greg followed Dr. Warner out of the room and back to the front of the facility where she walked over to a locked cabinet to get the prenatal vitamins out. As she searched the walls she started a conversation with Greg.

"So Nick must be excited" she said, locating the bottle of pills and bringing them over the counter.

"Actually, he doesn't know. He has enough to deal with right now and I don't want him worrying about me" Greg confessed.

Dr. Warner stared at him sternly and shook her head.

"You need to tell him Greg, keeping this to yourself must be very stressful and it is common knowledge that stress isn't good for the baby. I know that you are just trying to keep Nick focused on the hunter but-"

Greg interrupted her when he heard the word 'hunter'.

"How do you know about the hunter?" he asked her, growing suspicious of her.

Dr. Warner placed the various prenatal vitamins Greg would need in a paper bag and set the bag aside.

"Word travels fast Greg and I had a feeling that the hunter would return someday, but we all wished that his return would be much, much later in the future" she handed the bag to a still suspicious Greg who wordlessly took the bag from her.

"If I may say Greg, it would really be wise to tell Nick, preferably when he awakens that way it's out in the open and some of the stress your feeling will fade away" she said, hoping that Greg would do as she suggested.

"I'll think about it" he conceded, knowing that he couldn't keep his pregnancy a secret much longer. Though he was still apprehensive about telling Nick he didn't want to have Nick have doubts about him being the baby's father and he knew that the longer he kept this a secret the more hurt he would be.

Walking out from behind the counter she took her keys out of her pocket and walked over to the door, opening it up and turning to face Greg.

"I'll give you a ride back to the house, seeing as how you have no other means of transportation" she said.

"Yeah thanks" walking past her he walked over to her car and waited by the passenger side as she made sure the facility was locked before walking over to her car and unlocking the doors.

They got inside the car and drove off back to the house.

Warrick walked down the hallway of the crime lab and as he was walking he wasn't watching where he was going and accidentally bumped into a person who had a visitor's pass on.

"Sorry" Warrick apologized, stopping his pace.

"It's okay, no harm done" the man smiled kindly, revealing a set of pearly white teeth before turning on his heel and continuing on his way.

Warrick watched the man walk away and an uneasy feeling came over him; something about that man didn't sit right with him. Slowly turning around he continued on his way to Grissom's office, pondering over the mysterious man and wondering why he was getting such a bad vibe off the guy. Maybe he was just imagining things.

Back down the hallway the man handed in his visitors pass and smiled at Judy, who blushed in return.

"Have a nice day, ma'am" he said, putting all his charm into his smile, his eyes glinting in mischief.

"You too sir" she replied, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear and gave him a shy smile. She wasn't used to such attention from an attractive man. She wasn't what you would call 'confident' she was a very shy person who didn't really believe that she was that attractive because of her lack of relationships and the minimum amount of times a guy had even looked at her.

Giving her one last smile the man turned away from her and headed for the exit, the same mischievous glint in his eyes and a smirk on his face.

The man walked out of the crime lab and over to his parked pick-up truck and climbed inside. He pulled six folded up files from inside his jacket and he placed them on the passenger seat.

The files on the passenger seat were labeled as the following: Gregory Sanders, Nicholas Stokes, Gilbert Grissom, Sara Sidle, Warrick Brown and Catherine Willows.

Chuckling darkly the man pulled out of the parking lot and drove away from the building. Plans for the six CSI's all ready forming in his mind.

Greg reentered the house and made his way down the hallway and back to the room where Nick was resting. When he entered the room he saw that Georgina was sitting by Nick's bedside talking to him, he must have woken up while Greg was gone.

Nick looked to the doorway and smiled when he saw Greg.

"Hey" Nick said, his voice nothing more than a whisper.

Greg walked further into the room and stopped by the left side of Nick's bed and smiled down at him.

"How are you feeling?" Greg asked, lowering himself down on the bed so he was sitting beside him.

"Sore, tired but I'll live" Nick replied, reaching out and taking Greg's hand.

"I'm just glad you're okay" Greg leaned down and pressed his lips against Nick's who greedily recuperated, loving the feeling of Greg's lips against his own.

Georgina moved away from the bedside and made her way for the door.

"I think I'll just leave the two of you alone" she opened the door and slipped out, not knowing if they had heard her or not.

Greg pulled away from Nick and cupped the side of Nick's head.

Nick could tell by the serious look in Greg's expression that something was wrong.

"What's wrong baby? Did something happen?" Nick asked, becoming concerned.

"No, nothing's wrong. Nick I have to tell you something, something important" Greg began.

**A/N: Sorry this took so long but this chapter was 20 pgs. long! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Thanks for your patience and positive support Holly!**_

"Nick, before I tell you, you have to understand that I was only thinking of what was best for you. With the hunter back I didn't want you to be more concerned about me then yourself" Greg knew he was rambling, but he just didn't know how to put the right words together.

Nick squeezed his hand and gave him a reassuring look.

"Baby, you're rambling. Whatever you have to say, I'll understand. I won't judge you" he promised.

Greg hoped that Nick would keep his word, but he knew that with the big secret he had been keeping from him that there would be some anger.

"You remember that night when the team went out to celebrate the closing of that huge murder case?" he began.

Nick nodded his head, confused and interested at where this conversation was headed.

"We both got wasted and we took a cab home because we couldn't stay upright without the support of each other. Right after you told the cab drive our address, you turned to me and kissed me with such passion that it ignited this huge make out session, thinking about it now I'm surprised that the cab driver didn't pull over and kick us out" he laughed at the fond memory.

He watched Nick and saw the recollection in Nick's eyes.

"When we got back to the apartment somehow you managed to pay the driver his fee without your lips leaving mine then we got out of the cab and with our mouths and hands traveling everywhere all over each other's bodies, we walked up the steps and found our way to our door. From there we went straight to bed and had the most passionate sex we've had in a while but during that night I..." Greg's throat closed and he tried to get the words past his lips but all that came out was little gasps of air.

Nick, with some trouble managed to pull himself up into a sitting position and pull Greg towards him, wrapping him up in his arms and gently rubbing his back, trying to calm him down.

"Honey you need to calm down okay, your hearts racing a mile a minute" Nick said into Greg's ear, wondering and worried about what had Greg so anxious.

"I'm pregnant" he whispered into his shoulder. His eyes squeezed shut, afraid of the reaction he was going to get.

Greg began to panic when the soothing rubbing on his back stopped and the warm body he was pressed up against stiffened.

"You're what?" Nick whispered, not daring to believe what he had just been told.

"I'm pregnant" he repeated, his voice a little louder now.

Greg's heart rate accelerated when he felt himself being pulled away from the comforting embrace, and for a moment he was afraid that Nick was going to begin ranting at him, so he kept his eyes downcast, not wanting to see the anger reflecting in his mate's eyes but he was surprised by the gentleness in Nick's voice when he spoke.

"Greg look at me" he said, no hint of anger in his voice but Greg was a little confused and hopeful when he thought he heard what sounded like happiness in Nick's voice.

Slowly lifting his eyes he was amazed to see a smile gracing Nick's face.

"I'm not mad Greg, hell I've never been this happy! Your pregnant Greg, we're gonna be parents!" he exclaimed then laughed in joy and brought Greg back into a loving embrace.

"Y-You're not mad?" Greg asked, in a state of shock.

Nick pulled him back again so that they could look into each other's eyes.

"Mad? Baby why would I be mad? We're going to have a baby G! I'll admit that I'm a little confused as to why you kept this from me, but I would never be mad at you for something like this! I love you Greg!" Nick said, finding himself bubbling with happiness.

"I was going to tell you when the hunter was taken care of, but Dr. Warner convinced me that it was better to tell you now rather than later" Greg said, his eyes going downcast again. Nick didn't like this and tilted his head back up, forcing Greg to keep eye contact with him.

"We'll I'm glad you finally did Greg" Nick placed a hand on Greg's still relatively skinny stomach then leaned in and kissed him passionately. He pulled away with the same awed smile on his face, his hand still on Greg's stomach.

Greg smiled back and pecked Nick on the lips again, Nick's own smile sliding onto his own.

"How far along are you?" he asked suddenly, wanting to know how much longer they had to wait until their child was brought into the world.

"Dr. Warner said I was five weeks" Greg answered, all the anxieties he had been feeling was replaced by happiness. And then Nick asked the question that took a little of that happiness away.

"Why did you keep this from me? I'm not mad" he quickly added when he saw the smile on Greg's face falter a little.

"I'm just curious is all?" he explained.

Greg licked his lips and developed a sudden dry throat. He knew that the reason he had kept the baby a secret wasn't a horrible secret but now that he thought about it his reasoning had been a little unreasonable. Nick did deserve to know about the baby long before all this started and now that he knew about the baby, he deserved to know the reason for being left in the dark as well.

"I was trying to protect you from doing something stupid. When the hunter came back I had to keep fighting myself from telling you about the baby because I knew that if I told you, you would be more concerned about my safety then your own and I didn't want to risk you getting killed trying to protect me" Greg admitted, almost in one breath. His eyes had once again reverted back to staring at Nick's toned chest.

There was a moment of silence, nothing but their own breathing going through the room and Greg's heart that had found a new home in his throat.

Nick once again lifted Greg's chin up and Greg met his eyes, waiting for his judgment.

"You were trying to protect me? Greg...I understand your reasoning, really I do but you could have told me sooner! Yes, I would have worried more about your safety but Greg that's just nature, it's my wolf's nature to protect my mate at any cost and that protective nature only increases when they're mate is pregnant! But you also have to know that I would never allow myself to be taken away from you. I love you too damn much!" Nick reasoned.

After hearing all this Greg felt guilty for keeping this huge news from him, but there was still one secret that Greg could never tell Nick; that he was destined to die at the hands of the hunter. He didn't know when but he did know that it would occur in the hunter's cabin. Sure Greg was going to try everything to change his morbid future, but if he couldn't he didn't want Nick to blame himself.

"I'm sorry Nick, I really am. But now that you know we can celebrate this time, together" As Greg was once again leaning into kiss Nick (they seemed to be doing that a lot) they were interrupted by a knocking on the door. Without waiting for permission to enter, Elliot stepped through the doorway and gently clicked the door closed behind him. Nick and Greg pulled apart, feeling like teenagers getting caught making out by their parents.

Elliot glanced over at the bed and he was glad to see that Nick was awake and, by the looks of it, wasn't experiencing any pain. Walking further into the room he stopped by the bedside and loosely hung his arms at his side.

"Well, now that Nick's awake we can get down to business of discussing on how we're going to retrieve my car" he began, dead set on getting his car back before the police started snooping around on the inside because there were some things in that car that he didn't want anyone to ever see.

Nick groaned and collapsed his head back onto the pillow.

"Arrggh, I completely forgot about that" he groaned.

"Yes well I haven't, and we need to get my car back now or else this entire house is in trouble of being tracked down by pestering officials! And do you know who's fault that will be?...Mine! And as if I'm not already an annoying fly in their eyes but now I'm probably going to be the one who brings back the tradition of decapitation!" he ranted, the mere thought of him being forced to his knees, his head kneeling against a wooden table then the whooshing of the axe as it soared down through the air and made contact with the back of his neck, severing his head from his body.

He shook his head to get rid of the disturbing image.

"Okay, what exactly do you have in your car that could compromise this house?" Greg asked.

Elliot scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed at what he was about to reveal.

"My phone I kind of...put in some of the council's employers phone numbers, like Georgina's" he muttered, knowing how stupid his mistake was.

Greg and Nick gaped at him, astonished at how dumb Elliot truly was, what was he thinking when he did that?

Elliot looked at their astonished faces and was quick to add.

"But I didn't put down their real names!" he tried to assure them.

Greg shook his head and rose from the bed, making his way over to Elliot who found himself taking a step back, intimidated by the young wolf coming towards him.

"What were you thinking? They're going to find that phone and go through every contact in it and if they find one that catches their interest, they're going to investigate it and lead them closer and closer towards us!" Greg's eyes glowed a vibrant blue, his already little control over his wolf slipping. Stopping when he was face to face with Elliot, he glared slightly up at the older wolf, his breathing had become ragged.

Elliot knew that he should back down because aggravating Greg more would only cause him to change and Elliot knew that with his injury he would definitely lose. But alas, his mind might have been aware of this fact but not his mouth because he found himself saying, "we wouldn't have to worry about this if you hadn't of **STOLEN** my car!" he stated.

Those were the words that set Greg off.

His change was done within a blink of an eye and by doing so he didn't notice the amulet ripped off his neck and fell to the floor, along with the tarot cards and cord bracelet that was in his pocket. Elliot found himself pummeled to the floor with a snarling wolf pinning him down. Needle point teeth were snapping at his neck but he was lucky that his arms had thought quickly and kept the wolf at a safe distance away from his neck. He could feel the hot breath fanning across the face and the thunderous heartbeat pounding against his fingertips.

"Greg!" Nick shouted, but regretted it when a violent coughing fit overcame him.

Trying to work through the pain, he pulled himself up in a sitting position, his coughs beginning to calm down. Biting his lip in aggravation he managed to pull himself up from the bed, bringing the bag that was pumping the blood into him through an IV drip towards the fight.

While Nick was getting closer, Elliot was struggling on the floor with Greg, trying to get him off of him but his injuries from his last fight had left him weak and he didn't know how much longer he could keep Greg from tearing into his insides.

Nick slowly reached out when he was close enough and placed his hand on Greg's back. He could feel Greg stiffen from the touch and whip his canine head around where he made eye contact into the vibrant blues.

Instead of lunging at Nick like any dangerous wolf would do, he paused recognizing the face and smell of his mate.

"You need to calm down Greg, you don't want to hurt Elliot" Nick said, knowing how much hurting Elliot would pain him.

Greg took a few seconds to stare up at Nick before turning back and looking down at Elliot, who wasn't making any sudden movements that could provoke Greg and was looking back up at him. Pulling away from Elliot, Greg sat on his hind legs and changed back into his human form. His clothes had ripped from the change and lay in a pile on the floor, leaving him stark naked. Slowly rising, he backed away from Elliot and Nick then turned his back on them, ashamed at what he had done and angry at himself for not being able to control his wolf better. Shivers of adrenaline continued to run down his spine.

Nick helped Elliot up from the floor then turned his attention to Greg, who was clearly in distress. Stopping when he was a few inches behind him he spoke.

"Greg, Greg look at me baby" he said in hushed tones, giving Greg some personal space.

"You should get back into bed Nicky, you're not strong enough to be walking around" Greg said, his back still facing Nick.

Nick looked back at Elliot and addressed him.

"Elliot, could you step outside for a few minutes?" Nick asked, but it was more like a request.

Elliot nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Once Elliot was gone Nick advanced, inch by inch towards Greg, not wanting to move too quickly and possibly cause him to flee with the agitated state his mind was in.

"Elliot's gone now okay, so please, just turn around and talk to me, please. Tell me what's going on in that head of yours" Nick pleaded, hating that he didn't know how to help his lover.

"I'm sick of this Nick" Greg hissed, his body tingling and twitching with the untamable adrenaline and anger he was feeling.

Nick took another step forward and just as he was about to reach out and place his hand on Greg's shoulder he saw Greg tense and pulled his hand back.

"What are you talking about G? Sick of what?" Nick asked, pondering what could have his lover so riled up. Was it the hunter?

"I'm sick of being so goddamn weak! I can't even look at an inane replication of the moon without feeling the pull of the wolf! Do you know how pathetic that is?" he questioned, his back still facing Nick.

Greg's hands were clenched at his sides and his breath was coming out in short puffs of air and his eyes were randomly changing from his human eye color, to his wolves. His wolf was getting out of control again, of course this could all be an attribute to his hormones and the self anger but that was beside the point.

"Greg, you're not weak! You are one of the strongest people I know!" Nick encouraged, disheartened at the words coming from his mate's mouth.

Greg scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief. How could Nick be so naive?

Greg was a weakling, the only thing he was good for was standing in the background as the real heroes did all the work and if he did try and help all he did was cause problems, like when he tried to help the team with the bus scene.

He was surprised when he felt Nick grab him by the arms and whirl him around, forcing his chin up to look at him.

"You always know when to put on a smile for other's benefits when you could really just cry your eyes out, and you always tell the funniest jokes whenever someone's down to lift their spirits. You are strong for being able to mask what you're really feeling to help others, so no Greg, I know you're not weak!" Nick insisted, tears forming in his own eyes.

"That's not strength Nick, that's coward-ism. Do you want to know why I put on that fake smile? Why I tell those cheesy jokes?..It's because I want to have a purpose, I want to have a reason to be in the same room as our friends, co-workers...you. Without the charade I'm just a blur in the background" Greg stated, tears running freely down his cheeks.

"Greg-" Nick tried but Greg held up his hand, silencing him.

"Don't Nick, just don't, please? You can say all the things you want but the truth is the only reason I was even born was to serve others" turning his back on him once again, Greg walked towards the door and threw it open. Stepping outside he was met with Elliot who was leaning beside the door with a pair of jeans and blue T-shirt, he held the clothes out for Greg to take.

"Thanks" Greg took the towel and dressed himself

"You're welcome, I managed to scrounge them up from the laundry room" Elliot added.

There was a few moments of awkward silence before Greg broke it.

"We'll pick up your car tonight. It's only a matter of time before the CSI team picks up on the fact that Nick and I showed up in a car that wasn't our own and I intend to have that car back in our possession before they get their hands all over it" Greg stated, making a quick adjustment to the doorknob before walking down the hallway.

Elliot hurried to catch up with him.

"What about Nick? He's not going to be too happy with you just disappearing on him" Elliot asked, now walking alongside Greg.

"Nick's too injured to help and the only reason your going is because it would appear that you can walk just fine. Besides, I sort of locked Nick in his room" Greg said.

Elliot paused and stared at Greg incredulously.

"You locked him in? How did you manage that?" he asked, not remembering seeing Greg holding a key of any sort.

"Let's just say that when I wasn't studying to be a seer, I had a few other personal 'studies' I liked to do, like how to lock and unlock a lock without a key" Greg said.

Elliot laughed and shook his head.

"You are one sneaky bastard" he chuckled, patting Greg on the back.

They began walking again and Greg stopped when he came to Georgina's door.

"Could you go and check on Nick for me? Make sure that he gets back in bed? Knowing him he's probably banging and kicking at the door like crazy" Greg asked.

"Yeah, of course. So we're doing this tonight?' Elliot asked.

Greg nodded, and knocked on Georgina's door.

"Just a sec!" she hollered from inside.

"I guess I'll see you later then, come to my room when you're ready to go, my room is three doors down from the one Nick's in" he said, taking one step back.

"Okay, see you in a bit. I just have to talk to Georgina for a second" right on cue the door opened and Georgina appeared at the doorway, palms resting against the doorframe with her upper body leaning out.

Elliot turned and started walking away but stopped and turned back to face Greg, a sheepish look on his face.

"How do I get back inside Nick's room?" he asked.

Georgina looked at Greg oddly, obviously confused about what Elliot was talking about.

"Just turn the handle a hard right and you're going to have to push the door in, preferably with your shoulder" Greg instructed, remembering the time he had tried pushing the door open with his elbow, there had been a lot of pain involved.

Elliot turned back around and headed back to Nick's room.

Greg turned to face Georgina and saw that she had a confused look on her face.

"What was that about?" she asked, pointing in the direction Elliot had gone.

"I'll tell you all about it about it inside, may I come in?" he asked, nodding his head in the direction of her room.

She stood to the side and gestured him inside, closing the door behind him.

Greg walked over to her bed and sat down, looking down at the floor, his hands clasped in his lap.

"What's going on now Greg? Has something happened?" she asked, coming to sit beside him, turning so her body was facing him.

"You could say that, I told Nick about the baby" he began tilting her head to look at her.

"Did he not take it well?" she worried, hoping that that wasn't the case. Nick seemed like a too sweet and caring guy to dismiss his mate at something as wonderful as this.

"No, he's actually really excited about that but Elliot and I are heading out to pick up his car and there's something else I need to tell you, something I left out in our last conversation" Greg admitted, mentally preparing himself for the information he was about to once again revisit.

"Before I tell you, you have to promise that you won't run off and tell Nick because that would defeat the purpose of my whole reason for taking the route I've chosen" he began, he knew he was stalling but he still didn't have the right words to phrase together what needed to be said.

Georgina scooted closer and wrapped an arm around his neck.

"What are you talking about Greg? What else has happened?" she asked her voice and posture becoming more and more concerned and anxious.

"A while ago, I had a vision that depicted a future where I die, at the hands of the hunter" he finally said, reverting his eyes back to the floor.

There was silence for several moments after that; you could practically feel the shock clouding their environment before Georgina spoke.

"You haven't told Nick, have you?' she asked, but it was more of a statement with the way her voice was lower and her eyes were slightly narrowed, obviously displeased about the secret he had kept.

"You don't understand..." he shook his head, hating the way he was being looked at, like he was a selfish idiot.

Georgina scoffed and jumped off the bed, pacing a few steps in front of him before stopping and turning to face him; a mixture of anger and disbelief reflecting in her eyes and face.

"Your right Greg, I don't understand! I don't understand how you could keep this morbid secret from Nick; keeping your pregnancy from him was bad enough, but this? This is just perverse! We're talking about your life here!" she ranted, her hands waving at her sides with the pent up energy she was emitting.

When all Greg wanted to do was slowly try to draw in on himself, to get away from her anger filled aura she continued, her voice rising with the anger she was feeling. Greg was surprised no one had come to the room demanding to know what the hell was going on.

"Do you not know how Nick will feel if you were killed? He would drown in his sorrow! He might even take his own life, is that what you want Greg? To cause Nick so much suffering that his only option was to commit suicide!" she practically screamed right at his face.

At hearing this Greg's head shot up, anger filling his being and he stood up from the bed, his body towering over her. His eyes were dark with anger and his fists were clenched at his side. He could barely contain himself from pulling back and punching her across the face for even suggesting that was his intentions.

"How dare you!" he stated, his voice dangerously low; his expression so dark with rage that Georgina began walking backwards, afraid of the sudden change in Greg's attitude.

Georgina's back made contact with the wall and she stared up at Greg, fear evident in her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry Greg, but you have to think this decision through! As I said before, Nick has a right to know, and if you don't tell him I will!" she threatened. Her voice was considerably squeakier and she stuttered through many words, showing that she may have spoken strong words but that didn't mean she was brave.

"If I tell Nick I'll have the same problem that I had with telling Nick about the pregnancy, he'll be more concerned about me then himself" Greg stated, how many times he had given this reason he didn't know, but he knew it had been a lot.

Without backing down, now that some confidence had returned to her, she stood up to Greg, with more vigor in her voice.

"Tell Nick before the day is over or I will and believe me, you won't want me telling him" she said, getting away from the wall, forcing Greg to take a step back.

Greg turned away from her and headed towards the door, stopping when he was standing in front of it.

"The reason I came here was because Elliot and I are heading out later tonight and I was hoping that you could keep an eye on Nick, just make sure that he doesn't over exert himself and that he gets enough sleep, and if you can't it's okay" Greg asked, changing the subject.

Georgina was truthfully a little ticked off that Greg was changing the subject but she knew that the argument had gone on long enough so she would drop it, for now. She was still standing by what she said though; if Greg didn't tell Nick about his vision by the end of the day she planned on marching down to Nick's room herself and telling him in any way she wanted.

"I'll keep an eye on him. But remember what I said Greg; if you haven't told Nick by the end of the day, I will!" she reminded him.

Greg stiffly nodded his head and opened the door then walked out, making his way towards Elliot's room.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Earlier on:

Nick banged on the door one last time, hands sore from the continuous force he had used on them. He had taken the IV line out a few minutes ago, and so far had felt no ill effects.

Walking away from the door, fumed at being locked in the room, he kicked the pile of clothing on the floor and just as he was about to take another stab at the door he saw something glint from the light on the floor.

Curious, he knelt down and brushed the clothes away to reveal a necklace. Picking the necklace up he stood up straight and examined the piece of jewelry.

The necklace had what looked to be two crescent moons on their sides, one big one and one littler one and then a small hand dangling beneath the smallest one. He ran his thumb over the smooth silver then gently placed the necklace on the bed before returning to the pile of clothing to see if anything else was hidden. And he found two more items, one that looked to be some kind of bracelet and then the tarot cards.

A bad feeling developed in his gut when he saw the cards. He knew what tarot cards were used for and he was concerned about why Greg had a whole deck with him and didn't even mention the cards to him, or any of the jewelry he had found.

What was going? And what was Greg keeping from him?

Nick placed the two other items on the bed and began searching the room for stray clothes that old 'guests' may have left behind, preferably a pair of pants.

He surprisingly found what he was looking for in the back of the closet, and though they were a little short on the ankles they would do.

When he had the pants on he stuffed the items in his pockets and went back to working on opening the door.

No matter how long it took he was going to get the answers he wanted. He knew that if he went directly to Greg to get his answers he would most likely get lies and half truths and he wanted the whole truth. So there was a handful of people he could ask, Georgina, who seemed to have made a connection with Greg, and Greg's family, more specifically Greg's nana Olaf.

From what Nick had heard, nana Olaf was the go-to person when it concerned anything supernatural, and Nick had a feeling that the answers he wanted had to do with just that. He didn't like doing this behind Greg's back, but Greg had done the same to him by keeping the pregnancy from him for so long, and now he was keeping secrets from him again!

Summoning all his strength he rammed his entire body into the door and he heard the splinter of the wood cracking against his weight. With one more run into the door he managed to break the door down. The wood splintering and spraying out into the hallway, along with himself who was caught off balance and stumbled into the hallway, catching himself just in time before he too tumbled to the floor.

Elliot came hurrying down the hallway from the opposite direction and stopped in his tracks when he came across the mess before him.

"What the hell man? You're supposed to be in your room resting! And what happened to your IV?" he questioned, walking closer to Nick until he was standing in front of him, steadying him when he appeared to be losing his balance, but Nick swatted his hand away, insisting he was fine.

"Fine? You just smashed down a door with your body! Not to mention that you recently lost a huge portion of blood, which you should still be on a transfusion for!" when Elliot attempted to pull Nick back towards the room, Nick managed to keep his body firmly in place.

"I've done enough resting Elliot! I need answers, now unless you have the answers I'm looking for, you'd better let me go or so help me mother moon I will tear you limb from limb" he threatened, dark fury flaring in his eyes.

Even though Nick was still clearly weak there was something about Nick that scared him enough to release his hold and take a step back.

"What kind of answers are you looking for?" he asked, aiming to answer his questions so that he could get him back in bed before Greg got back.

Nick dug into his pockets and pulled out the items he had found.

"What Greg is doing with these" he said, showing Elliot the items.

Elliot looked down at the items in Nick's hands and by the expression on his face was just as confused as Nick, if not more.

"All I'm seeing is some jewelry and a pack of tarot cards" he replied, implying that he couldn't give the answers Nick was seeking.

Seeing that his thoughts were correct he put the items back in his pockets.

"I'm guessing that Greg was the one who locked me in?" Nick guessed, knowing that it was something Greg would do.

Elliot nodded his head, "yeah, I'm still not sure how he managed to do that" he admitted.

"Greg has a lot of tricks like that" Nick told him, his vision momentarily swam but he managed to hide that fact from Elliot.

"Listen, I know that Greg most likely has you babysitting me but I need you to keep him from coming after me, there's something I've got to do and I don't want him trying to stop me" he asked, hoping that Elliot would consent to his favor.

Elliot worried his bottom lip.

"Greg's going to be pissed when he finds out I let you leave your room, without your IV nonetheless" Elliot said, a little nervous at the idea of pissing Greg off again; he didn't think he was ready for another round, especially since he had been wounded the first time around and now he had more injuries to add.

"Please, look you can tell him that I physically threatened you if it will make you feel better, I know I may not look it right now but I can still kick your ass" Nick bargained, holding out his hand to shake on it.

Elliot stared down at the hand before hesitantly taking the hand and shaking it, before releasing it once more.

"Just hurry back okay? The council wants to meet with us at 11:00 tonight to go over plans" Elliot requested.

"I'll be back as quick as I can" turning to leave Nick hurried down the hallway and headed towards the entrance, not looking forward to another confrontation with the two guards.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Greg made his way back to Elliot's room when he stopped when he saw the debris on the floor. A bad feeling dropped into his gut when he saw that it was the remains of Nick's door.

Hurrying to Elliot's door he banged on the door, shouting that Elliot better open the mother moon door or so help him he would torture him then burn him alive.

The door was yanked open and Greg was met with a startled Elliot, clearly believing that Greg could and would accomplish what he threatened.

"What the hell happened to Nick's door?" he questioned, gesturing to the debris on the floor in the hallway.

Elliot's mind seemed to be hard at work, putting together an explanation.

Getting annoyed at his silence Greg grabbed Elliot by the collar of his shirt, dragged him from his room and rammed him up against the wall.

"What happened?" Greg questioned, rattling his head around.

"He plowed his own way out! He threatened to rip my throat out if I didn't let him go!" Elliot fibbed, remembering what Nick had demanded of him.

"You could have stopped him! He's lost a lot of blood and was considerably weakened by his door stunt!" Greg seethed, a growl rumbling deep within his chest.

Greg's nails were digging into Elliot's trachea, cutting off his oxygen and causing excruciating pain. He grabbed onto Greg's hands and tried to pry his hands off by the wolf's strength within Greg was too strong and Elliot was still too weak to summon his wolf's strength.

"G-Greg *gasp*...y-your...*gasp* k-k-killing *gasp* me" his face starting to turn blue.

Hearing the strained voice of Elliot and his thunderous heartbeat beneath his fingertips, Greg's eyes widened and he relinquished his hold on Elliot and backed away; fear and regret in his eyes.

Elliot coughed and rubbed the sore area on his throat, breathing in lungful of airs.

"I-I'm sorry Elliot, I...I couldn't control myself" Greg turned away from Elliot and faced his right. He could hear Elliot still regulating his breathing. What was wrong with him? He's never lost this much control in one day before, this was really starting to concern him.

"It's okay, I pissed you off" Elliot replied, resting his hands on his knees and looking up at Greg's back.

But Greg knew that it wasn't okay; there was something deep within his wolf that was deeply angered about something, but what he wasn't sure, it could be a whole number of things: his protectiveness towards his unborn child, the safety of his mate or it could be something that Greg's wolf had against Elliot's wolf.

Greg turned back to face Elliot and got back to the original topic at hand: Nick's whereabouts.

"Did he tell you where he was going?" he asked, his voice considerably calmer then it had been.

Elliot shook his head, straightening his posture out when his breathing was back under control, but the beginning of bruises were already painting themselves around his throat.

"No, he just threatened me then left. I would have gone after him but weak or not Greg, he's still the rightful alpha of this pack; the fight I caused earlier was uncalled for" Elliot said, technically not lying because he truly didn't know where Nick was going and he also didn't plan on going up against the rightful alpha again. Nick had shown his superiority over him and both him and his wolf would follow his orders from now on.

"Dammit Nick!" Greg cursed under his breath, running a hand through his hair.

"But before he left I told him that the council wants to meet with us again to at 11 tonight to go over plans" Elliot added.

Greg was debating on whether to go after Nick or get Elliot's car. He knew that if he went after Nick he was risking the possibility that the CSI's would get a hold of Elliot's cell phone and trace some of the numbers back here. Then there was the decision of getting Elliot's car and possibly allowing Nick to bleed to lose even more blood and collapse somewhere where he would never be found; of course the probability of his last thought was very out of there but it was also a possibility that frightened Greg.

Greg was taken from his thoughts when Elliot spoke again.

"We need to go and get my car now, because I have a feeling that your people have already picked up on the fact that that car you drove wasn't your own and they're already on their way down there, and besides if Nick gets into any trouble I'm confident that Georgina will find him and bring him back" Elliot reassured him, seemingly making the choice for him.

Greg mulled over his words before finally having to give in and agree with Elliot.

"Okay let's go, but better make this quick" Greg walked away from Elliot and headed towards the main entrance, Elliot trailing behind him.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Out near Lake Mead a cabin sat lights flickering from the inside by candles that were positioned on tables and atop windowsills to keep the room lit, the electricity having gone out.

A group of people, around 20 at the most, and more on the way; ages ranged from 18-mid 40's. All were spread out through the living room and kitchen, barely able to move an inch without bumping into someone. Discussions were going on about various bloody wolves that people had killed to the latest artillery.

All conversation ceased when the door to the basement opened and a man, in his mid 40's entered the living area. He had long black hair, braided together in the back, cinnamon wrinkled skin, eyes that could be described to be the black pits to hell. He had a scar that ran from his right collarbone to the left corner of his bottom lip. The story of how he had gotten said scar was a legend among the people who followed in the hunter's footsteps.

His arms were strong and with hands that were calloused with the many times he had worked to fight and kill his opponents, no stranger to strangling the life out of someone's eyes. He stood at 6'6 with the upper body build to add more terror to his giant like height. He worse ratty old and faded navy jeans with a black undershirt and a loose button up blue and white striped over shirt, left unbuttoned. His shoes were filthy black combat boots that had dried dirt and mud caked together and if you were to examine closer and test the boots for blood, you would find many donors; all wolves.

He walked over to the center of the room and stopped, his eyes roaming over the audience before him.

"Welcome my fellow hunters; we have entered a time where wolves have ingrained it in their that they are welcome among humans. They live among us and put on a disguise of an everyday person that looks, talks and acts like us, but underneath all that they are inhuman abominations that take the form of beasts!" he said, the verse sounding like a script in the bible.

"I have asked you all here today because in a manner of days we are going to ambush the Las Vegas Wolf pack at their most sanctum place and kill every last one of them; whether that be hunting them down one by one or taking them all out at once, the deed will be done!" he continued.

Murmurs of agreement came from the audience and when their chatter settled down the hunter continued.

"Jacob, have you accomplished the job I assigned you?" he asked turning his attention to a young man, around 30 who was standing in front of the lab, a couple of files in his hand.

"Yes sir" Jacob stepped forward and handed the files off to him, stepping back into his original spot.

Looking through the files he found the two he was looking for and showed the two pictures to the audience.

"These two are top members of the pack; Nicholas Stokes, the heir alpha to the LV pack. He is a top priority kill; the hunter who kills him will be rewarded immensely. His mate, Gregory Sanders" he then showed another picture.

"He is the seer for the pack. He has likely already informed his council of our coming. Now, I do not want him killed, yet; I have plans for him that will insure that their alpha is considerably weaker without his mate and the council will not have the power to have knowledge of our plans. I need three people to track Gregory down and bring him back to me" he looked around the crowd for volunteers and almost instantly every hand went up, wanting to prove themselves to the most powerful hunter to ever live.

The hunter hummed in the back of his throat; looking at all the volunteer's physical build and the way they carried themselves. It was necessary that the people he sent out were in their prime and top physical condition so he decided on three young men who aged from 20-24.

The three men stepped forward, smug smiles on their faces. The hunter handed the middle man a picture of Greg.

"This is top priority boys; I want him brought to me as soon as possible. Only use physical force if you can't catch him off guard otherwise I want you to use this" he pulled a bullet out of his pocket and handed it to the man on the left.

"This bullet has been injected with Rohypnol. As soon as he's down I want you to get him and yourselves back here. You're going to want to be careful because there may be more than one wolf with him, and if there is take them out" he instructed.

The men nodded in understanding then took off to do their assigned job.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Elliot and Greg parked a block away from where Elliot's car was and sat in the car for a few moments.

Scanning the area Greg noted that he didn't see any of his coworker's department vehicles, but there was a police vehicle with a police officer stationed inside and one keeping guard by the crime scene to make sure that the crime scene remained undisturbed.

But Greg wasn't too concerned considering that he recognized Officer Thomas and officer Martinez, two of the laziest officers he had met, were the ones keeping watch. They were known for falling for asleep on the job and failing to do their jobs to the fullest. Greg was surprised that they still had a job.

"So what's the plan?" Elliot asked, seeing the officers standing guard.

"You stay in the car and I'll go retrieve yours, simple enough" Greg replied, continuing to keep an eye out for any department vehicles.

"Why do you get to go? It's my car" Elliot asked, turning his head to look at Greg, who kept his focus on the area around Elliot's car.

"The CSI's want to bring you in questioning and if those two officers actually did decide to pay attention to their radios they'll know your description that and you won't exactly blend in with that limps of yours, no offense" he quickly added, finally turning his head to look pointedly at Elliot who comically frowned and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Fine, just hurry up! It's already 9:30" Elliot told him, reaching into his pocket and getting out his keys, handing them to Greg. He watched as Greg opened the door and stepped out, closing the door behind him.

Greg leaned down and rested his hands on the window ledge of the car.

"When I get the car, follow me back to the councilor's house" he patted the doorframe then made his way towards the Cadillac.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Warrick climbed into his department vehicle and checked the license plate of the vehicle he was going after on the print out.

The car he was going after was a classic red Cadillac, owned by none other than Elliot Frenchez. He knew that it was ignorant of him to only now just realize that the car Nick and Greg were driving was not their own but he had had more pressing matters at hand to attend to. Hopefully the vehicle was still there.

He started the engine and pulled out of the lot, driving until he pulled out onto the street and drove in the direction of club Moonlight.

He had finished his meeting with Grissom and after delivering the news that he had censured due to his loyalty to Nick and Greg. Basically he had told Grissom that he had followed Nick and Greg to the desert and left shortly after he saw them start to make out.

A rickety old blue pick-up truck, that hadn't had a new paint job in over a decade by the looks of it, hurtled past Warrick almost clipping his driver side mirror off.

"Watch where you're going!" he shouted, honking his horn at the daredevil driver. His training kicking in Warrick looked at the license plate and quickly memorized the numbers, stocking them away for future references because with the speed this guy was likely going he was going to cause an accident that Warrick would have to process later.

Shaking his head Warrick turned on his radio and tuned the radio to a station that was playing some rap; tapping his fingers on the steering wheel to the thrumming beat.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

The three hunters zoomed down the streets of Las Vegas, the truck they were driving groaning and creaking to the speed they were forcing on it. Technically they weren't going over the speed limit, just putting more strain on the gas then the people on the road with them.

They passed a black Tahoe and almost clipped his side mirror off, and in retaliation and anger the driver of the car honked at them. But they didn't particularly care about the damage they could have caused, they had more important things to focus on, like finding the seer.

The man in the passenger seat beside the window held the picture up to his face and whenever a person that looked to fit the description came into view he would tell the driver to slow down, but so far they hadn't spotted their target.

"Man this is taking forever! We must've circled this city like a dozen times already!" the guy in the middle complained, resting his feet on the dashboard.

"Chris, we've only been searching for the last five minutes and would you keep your feet off my dashboard, I all ready have enough scuff marks" the driver said, pushing Chris' boots off the dashboard and consequently making them land on the other passenger's lap.

"Hey! Watch where you're putting those!" he exclaimed, pushing the boots off his lap and making them land back on the floor.

Cursing under his breath the man went back to looking out the window for their target when he suddenly spotted him approaching a red Cadillac.

"Matt, I see him! He's headed towards that red Cadillac" he said, following the wolf's movements as they passed him.

Matt eased up on the gas and took a U-Turn to drive back down the road and park a block away from where their target was.

They watched as the wolf stopped in front of the car and opened the door.

"What do you think he's doing?" asked Chris, a scowl on his face as he watched the vermin wolf.

"Probably stealing it, all of their kind are just animalistic freaks who have no respect for the human race" the unknown man replied, personal hatred towards the wolves flaring up.

They watched as the wolf seemed to have started the car, if the headlights turning on were any indication, and pulling away from the sidewalk.

"Shit, we missed our chance!" Chris exclaimed, getting ready to crawl over to the door and chase after the wolf, but Matt stopped him.

"We don't want to get him here, too many witnesses and besides there are two cops nearby" he explained, after seeing the angry look on Chris' face.

Chris growled but obediently sat back in his seat.

The wolf drove past them and a few seconds later another vehicle showed up behind him, seeming to be following him.

"Looks like we got two wolves" the unknown man commented, after assessing that the car was in fact following their target.

Waiting until they were a fair amount away Matt pulled away from the sidewalk and drove a few cars behind their prey.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Warrick parked his car and got out, he got his kit out of the back of the car then headed in the direction the Cadillac had been.

As he got closer to the vehicle's last seen position he saw that it was no longer there. Hurrying his pace he stopped when he was standing in the spot and looked around, wondering if it had maybe been moved. When he didn't see the vehicle anywhere he stalked over to the officer that was 'supposed' to be guarding the scene.

"Hey!" Warrick called, coming to a stop in front of the officer.

The officer jumped at the sudden voice and turned in the direction it had come from

"Can I help you sir?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm CSI Brown from the crime lab. There was a red Cadillac that was parked about a block away from here, did you happen to where it went?" he asked, putting his ID badge away.

The officer thought about it, thinking of all the vehicles in the area but he couldn't remember seeing any red Cadillac. He shook his head.

"Sorry, I've only been keeping watch over this area" he replied.

Warrick sighed and mentally cursed. He had a feeling on who had taken the vehicle but he was also hoping that the car had been towed. Without speaking Warrick headed back towards where the Cadillac had been and scanned the area for security cameras or any pedestrians who might have seen what had happened to the car.

From what he saw all the shops and eateries were closed and the people of Las Vegas appeared to have completely deserted this part of the city. And what was worse was that he didn't see any security cameras that could have captured the event.

Once again mentally cursing Warrick picked up his kit and headed back to his vehicle.

When he reached his vehicle and had put his kit in the back he pulled out his phone and speed dialed Grissom. He picked up on the third ring.

"Grissom"

"We have a problem, the car's gone" Warrick spoke.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

The unknown man opened the glove compartment and took out the gun that he knew was stashed there and opened the barrel of the gun; taking 4 of the original bullets out he placed the Rohypnol bullet into the next empty compartment then flipped the barrel close.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Greg traveled further out of the city, keeping an eye on the rearview mirror to make sure Elliot was still behind him; he also noticed that a few meters away was an old rickety pickup truck. He grew suspicious when he noted that that the same truck had been following them for a while.

Making a snappy decision Greg passed his foot all the way down on the accelerator and gunned it. He no longer planned on going straight back to the Council's house because he couldn't risk giving a possible enemy the location of such a powerful base of his pack. He snuck another glance in his mirror and saw that Elliot had also sped up along with the truck; this proved that the truck was in fact following them.

They were not yet near the Council's House and in order to insure that their followers wouldn't know the way to the he took the smartest and at the same time idiotic route: off-road. He knew that he was risking killing the shock extensions and other equally important parts of the car but it was a risk he had to take.

The Cadillac rattled and bounced on the rough terrain, protesting the unwanted unpleasantness.

In the distance he could see that the desert seemed to go on forever and in his gut he began to feel dread.

As if confirming his fears the car began to sputter and groan until it came to a complete stop. Smoke billowing out from the hood.

"Shit!" he cursed.

He looked up at his mirror and saw that Elliot and their followers had also come to a stop. Panicking, he quickly unbuckled and looked around the car for any sort of weapon and came up empty handed.

BANG!

A sudden gunshot made Greg jump at he whipped his head around just in time to see Elliot collapse to the ground. From where he was he couldn't tell if Elliot was still breathing or not but if they were hunters it was most likely that he was dead.

There were three men; all had sneers on their faces as they looked down at Elliot. The man who had fired the gun looked back up and over at Greg's car and lifted his gun and Greg ducked just in time to miss the bullet that was meant for his head. The bullet had shattered the back window and blew over his head and impaled itself into the windshield.

All at once his window was smashed, glass sailing past his face and some managing to cut into his skin leaving bloody trails behind. He was dragged from the car and roughly shoved onto the ground. Dust and dirt wafted into his eyes and throat causing his vision to blue and a coughing fit to overcome him.

A click of the gun made him freeze, terror filling his heart. He was in too much distress to shift and he didn't want to give them anymore reason to shoot him.

"Bloody Wolf!"

With another click blinding pain entered Greg's senses and he howled in pain. His shoulder felt like it was on fire and when he looked down at the wound he saw that the there was no blood on the front of shirt, meaning it wasn't a through and through; the bullet was still in his shoulder.

Since the initial wound was on his back he couldn't apply pressure to it. His muscles began to relax and the initial fear he had felt began to ebb away. Just as drowsiness began to set in he looked up and saw the blurry figures of the hunters.

His vision went black and he knew the world no more.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Nick finally made it to his destination, after about a fifteen minute walk. He was actually surprised that he had managed to make it with how weak he was.

Catching his breath Nick straightened himself out the best he could then knocked on the wooden door, taking a step back he waited for someone to answer.

His knock was answered almost immediately, and by just the person he came to see.

"Hello Nana Olaf"

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

When Greg woke up his vision was still considerably blurry and his muscles were still lead like, meaning that whatever drug they had given him was still in his system.

A white light blinded him and he was forced to squint, barely able to make out the black figure standing before him.

"So we meet at last, seer!"

**A/N: I hope you've enjoyed this chapter! And for those of you that stuck by me in this long awaited chapter thanks! I can't promise that the next chapter is going to come any quicker because of school and homework but believe me this story will be continued and finished. Please review!**


	9. ANNOUNCEMENT :

**Announcement: In honor of Halloween, one of my most favorite holidays!, The Hunter will have a new chapter even if it's the last thing I ever do! (hopefully not ; ) **

**The reason for such a long delay was due to the fact that my computer got the dreaded blue screen and was out of commission for a while but it's and running now so as I said before in honor of Halloween a new chapter will be posted!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks Holly, you're the greatest beta ever!**

Greg froze at the chilling voice, recognizing it from his vision. His killer had arrived. The Hunter walked closer to Greg and stopped when he was standing beside him, blocking the intense light. In his hand Greg could see a pair of scissors. They were silver and sharp.

He rested his hands on top of Greg's own and leaned down so they were face to face; his eyes watered from the strong odor.

"I have been waiting to meet you Seer." His voice came out in scratchy rasp. "From what I hear, you are a very important being in your pack, and anything that your pack values, I want in my possession" the Hunter pulled away and walked around him, seeming to taunt him with the way he casually snipped the scissors open and closed by his side; the snipping a foreshadowing of what was to come.

Greg remained silent, his fright overpowering his voice.

"Now I know that bullet must be a pain, so why don't I take care of that for you? After all you are my guest and I do want to be a good host" from behind him Greg could hear the sound of a drawer opening and closing.

The Hunter walked back in front of him and he saw that he was holding a pair of pliers in one hand and the scissors in another.

"I hope you're not too fond of this shirt" he said as he knelt down in front of Greg, starting at the bottom. He cut the shirt open then got up and walked behind him where he made Greg lean forward (causing him to groan in pain) and pealed the shirt off him.

With the shirt now in tatters, Greg was now feeling very exposed. If he could, he would have wrapped his arms around himself but he was restrained. The cold draft in the room sent shivers up his spine and goose bumps to appear on his flesh.

What happened next was done without warning.

Something cold and sharp pierced the wound causing excruciating pain to shoot through Greg's body. He couldn't hold back his screams of pain. With a loud squelching sound, the bullet popped out and Greg groaned in pain. He rested his chin against his chest; his breath coming out in deep gasps.

Greg could hear the sound of objects clanging together and soon felt something pressed up against the wound; he hissed in, his cries of pain already used up.

"There we go, all bandaged up" the hunter said in an eerily cheery voice.

It was almost sickening the way his wound was being treated, when he knew that more horrific and gruesome wounds would canvas his body. He almost wished that the hunter would have just let him bleed out, at least that way he would die faster.

The hunter walked back in front of him, staring down at Greg with a malicious glint in his eyes. "Now that that's taken care of, we can get down to business" leaning down the hunter stared directly into Greg's eyes. Greg stared right back, not willing to show his fear.

"I'm going to ask you one, and one question only Greg. If you answer to my satisfaction, I won't make another nasty wound on that perfect golden skin of yours" the hunter began, an easy going smile on his face, but Greg knew that underneath that smile was a devilish soulless man.

"I will never betray my pack" Greg stated, his voice filled with conviction.

The Hunter chuckled. "I figured you'd say something like that. I'd be disappointed otherwise" once again pulling away, the hunter walked behind Greg. He could hear him shuffling things around and was startled when duck tape was clamped over his mouth. The hunter appeared to have found what he was looking for and returned to stand in front of him with a pack of cigarettes and a silver lighter.

"I figured we'd began our session with a casual smoke" the hunter popped a cigarette out of the pack, stuck the butt in his mouth and flicked the lighter on then held the dancing flame under the end of the cigarette.

The hunter took a drag from the cigarette then exhaled the smoke into a perfect O. Standing in front of Greg; a casual smile invaded the hunter's face, looking completely alien on his face.

"You know, my mom was always trying to make me quit this nasty habit. Said it will be the death of me! Well...I guess now's a good a time as any to quit" Greg tried to squirm away from the approaching burner but his restraints didn't allow him. The hunter pressed the end of the cigarette into Greg's right arm and moans of pain were muffled by the tape. This was continued three more times before the hunter pulled the cigarette away, dropped it to the floor and using the toe of his shoe, crushed the cigarette into ash.

Four flaming red burns, the size of the end of a cigarette marred Greg's sternum. Silent tears ran down Greg's cheeks. The hunter pulled over a rickety old chair and sat down in front of Greg.

"This can all stop Greg, all you have to do is tell me where your base is" the hunter tried again, leaning forward in his chair.

Greg huffed and glared at the hunter. The hunter could do anything he wanted to him, but he would never betray his pack. The hunter shook his head in obvious disappointment.

"I guess we'll have to continue this later. I have some things that I have to attend to" standing up from the chair, he headed for the door and opened it, revealing two of the men that Greg remembered had brought him here.

"Take him to his cell, and be sure to restrain him I don't want him getting away" the men nodded and entered the room. They walked over to Greg, while he watched as the hunter looked back at him and smiled then left and closed the door behind him.

The two men unbound Greg from the chair, but immediately restrained his wrists behind his back. Once he was standing, he was forced over to a small cell that had metal bars on it and was so small that it looked like he would have hardly any leg room. Stopping in front of the cell one of the men took a key out from his pocket, bent down and unlocked the cage then stood up and whipped Greg around only to violently yank the duck tape off causing Greg to hiss in pain.

Before Greg knew what was happening Greg found himself being forced into the cage. Turning around to the best of his ability Greg looked up at the two men who were staring down at him in obvious amusement.

"Looks like the wolfs finally found his rightful place" said the one on the right. Taking a camera out of his back pocket he brought the camera up to his face and took a step back to get a full shot of Greg in the cage.

"Say cheese!" the camera flashed and the man brought the camera away from his eye to look at the picture on the screen.

"Oh this is so going to be my Christmas card!" he laughed, showing the picture to his companion who laughed as well. The men continued to laugh as they turned their backs on Greg and walked out of the room. When he was sure that they weren't coming back Greg rested his hand on his abdomen and rubbed soothing circles over it.

"Don't worry baby, I won't let anything happen to you. I promise" But Greg knew that that was a promise he might not be able to keep.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

"Nicholas, what are you doing here? And without a shirt or shoes I might add" she asked, standing aside to allow Nick entrance. Nick thanked her and entered the home, Nana Olaf closing the door behind him.

"I need to talk to you about some items that I found in Greg's possession" Nick reached into his pocket, grunting in pain from the strain he felt on his stitches. He placed the items on the oak coffee table in between them so she could take a look.

Nana Olaf looked down at the items placed before her. Nick could see the spark of recognition in her eyes as she leaned forward and picked the bracelet up. She held the bracelet up at eye's length then lowered it down and focused her attention on Nick as she addressed him.

"He is worried. To have this item means that he is expecting danger. This is a cord charm that is given to an infant when they are born and only when the infant is deemed able to face the evil will the cord fall off. Tell me, is Gregory with child? " She asked, waiting intently for an answer.

Nick nodded his head, "yes, I only just found out a little while ago" he replied. Anxious for what other information she could give him.

Placing the cord charm down, she moved her attention to the tarot cards on the table. Nick watched her intently. Her eyes roamed over the cards, her breath stuttered and her eyes widened.

"Mor moon ingen!" she exclaimed, looking back up at Nick, fear evident in her eyes. Her fear made Nick's fear escalate.

"What is it? What do those cards mean?" he leaned forward on the couch, needing an answer.

Nana Olaf looked back down at the cards and picked up the one that had a naked man and woman lying together.

"This card represents your and Greg's love, and this card" she put down the card she was holding and picked up another, "represents a time of unbalance and finally this card" she put down the card and picked up the last one, "this is death" at hearing this Nick began to panic.

Death? No, no! His lover, his mate could not die!

Slowly and painfully rising from the couch Nick started for the door but was stopped when a frail hand touched his shoulder.

"There are many possibly meanings behind the message Nick, remember that" she patted him on the shoulder and Nick watched as she hobbled out of the room and down a hallway.

Walking/limping towards the door, Nick stopped and took one last look at the inside of the house, pondering over Nana Olaf's message, then turned the knob and left, starting his journey back to the council's house.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Awakening with a painful moan, Elliot managed to flip himself on his back and apply pressure to the wound he had received on his right pectoral. Craning his eyes downward, he saw that the front of his shirt was almost completely covered in blood and by the amount he was surprised that he wasn't dead, but if he didn't stop the blood flow he would be.

Using what little strength that hadn't left him, yet. He pushed himself up from the ground, groaning all the way, until he was in a sitting position. Now came the hard part. Planting the heel of his right hand into the ground, he bit his lips causing blood to dribble down his chin, but he breathed through the pain and got himself standing. A fit of lightheadedness hit him and he swayed before managing to regain his composure and limped over to the Cadillac.

"Greg?" he asked, getting closer to the driver's side he noticed the broken window and shards of glass on the ground. This caused his senses to go on high alert. When he heard nothing, he tried again and when he looked down inside the vehicle he saw no sight of Greg, but on closer inspection around the vehicle he noticed the blood.

Panic filled his senses, praying with all his might that Greg was still alive and kicking.

"Greg!" He shouted, turning in a circle to get the full layout of the area.

There was no answer. Greg was gone.

Limping back over to the car, he crawled over the driver seat looking through the car for his phone and found it resting on the passenger seat. Grabbing and pocketing the device he scooted out of the car until he was standing properly again.

He stood in front of the Cadillac, wasting precious seconds, but the decision he was contemplating wasn't exactly easy for him. It was his car for Pete's sake!

"Ah Dammit!" coming to a decision, he limped back to the Denali and over to the driver's side. Leaning in, he unlocked the trunk and limped around the back of the vehicle. Rummaging through the contents, he found what he was looking for. A gallon of gasoline, from the weight of it, none of the gas had been used yet.

Limping back to the car, he uncapped the container and started pouring gasoline all over the car. Once the container was empty and the car was drenched with the gasoline, Elliot reached into his pocket, pulling out a lighter. The lighter flicked a flame into life. Taking one last look at his precious Cadillac, he took a step back and tossed the lighter into the front of the car. The flame sparked and soon the car was encased in flames; destroying everything inside and out of the car, eating up the metal in such a ravenous way.

Taking a moment to watch the smoldering vehicle, he then limped back over to the Denali, got into the driver's seat and drove back to the Council's House to report what had happened. He was not looking forward to his confrontation with Nick.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

It was some time later when Greg was awoken by the squeaking of the hinges attached to his cell door. Cracking his eyes open, he watched as a plate of bread and a tin of water were placed on the floor of his cell. No his prison. Then the door was closed and the person who had brought the meager offerings of food left the room.

Greg waited a few minutes before reaching over for the food and picking up the plate of bread. Bringing the toast up to his nose he sniffed it, seeing if he could smell any chemicals or such that they might have put in it. When he found that the bread only smelled of staleness, he took a cautionary bite, and wrinkled his nose in disgust of the taste but ate the bread anyway, knowing that it was likely the only type of food he was going to be receiving and the fact that the life inside of him needed the nutrients.

Putting the rest of the bread aside to save for later, not having the knowledge of when they were going to feed him again or even if, he picked up the tin of water and inspected the muggy water, nothing appeared to have been done to it, but to be safe he also smelled the water and found that there were no suspicious smells.

Taking another risk he brought the side of the tin to his lips and took a small sip then set the tin aside.

Leaning his head against the bars of the cell, he looked around at the now dark interior of the room. His eyes changed to his wolf's icy blue, allowing him to see in the dark. Scanning the room from the angle he was now at, he found that he had a better view of his surroundings.

Looking at the area where he had been restrained, his initial fear of his situation escalated to the point where he was sure his heart was going to thump right out of his chest. On the wall behind the chair was a took rack that had various torturing devices, but the one that currently held Greg's attention was the wicked looking 10 inch blade that looked to be sharp enough to cut through a man in one slice and was a shinier than the night stars.

It both awed and frightened him.

Looking at the other instruments around that area, he found that there were many he couldn't even identify, like the choker that looked to have sharpened spikes drilled into the inner interior of the choker. There were also ones he did recognize, like the fateful brander that was hanging beside an old fashioned black metal fireplace. The kind that were used when horses were the only mode of transportation. They looked well used by the amount of smoldering ash he could see in the pit. The brander was a simple metal rod with an oval shape at the end that looked to have a design on it but from where he was he couldn't tell what the design was.

His sensitive ears picked up approaching footsteps and he made his eyes change back to normal right before the door to the room was opened and a light was turned on, blinding Greg from being in the dark for so long.

"Rise and shine wolf!" said a sardonic voice, giving Greg the impression of a warden.

Greg watched as the same men who kidnapped him walked over to the cage and knelt down in front of his cell door. He noticed one of them eye his reminder of food and chuckle.

"I see you've actually eaten some of your food, to tell you the truth we were kind of expecting a hunger strike what with the rebellious nature you wolves have" the first remarked.

Greg remained silent, waiting for them to make the first move.

"Nah, this one's too weak to be able to contain its hunger for more than a day, two at the most. Don't you remember how quickly it gave up? Probable because it's never been in a single fight" another remarked.

The mocking was interrupted when the hunter entered the doorway and made his presence known by clearing his throat. The men, along with Greg averted their attention to the hunter who was now standing with his arms across his chest and a stern expression on his already marred face.

"Bring it upstairs. I want to introduce it to the others, and be sure to bound it's legs and hands so it can't get loose...not that it would try" he added knowingly, a smug smile on his face. Greg shrunk in on himself and reverted his eyes to the cell floor.

"Yes sir" one of them answered, Greg wasn't sure which.

He was startled when he heard the clanging of the lock and the banging of the door colliding with the other cage. A pair of hands reached towards him and in retaliation Greg kicked out and his foot collided with the owner's chest and an "Oomph" escaped his throat as he was knocked back.

"You little shit!" cursed another who grabbed both of Greg's legs and began trying to yank Greg out. Greg attempted to hold on by gripping the bars of the cage and used the sole of his boot to press down on Greg's fragile fingers. When the pain became too much, Greg was forced to let go and he was roughly dragged out of the cage; his back scraped across the bars and the food he had saved was top-sided.

Finally outside, the man who Greg had kicked reached down and brought Greg up by the root of his hair then punched him across the face; leaving a bloody nose in its trail. Before the man could take another swing the other men grabbed the man by the arms and physically pulled him away from Greg.

"Ya gotta calm down Matt, remember what he said; we can't have him die on us yet" one of them reminded him.

Matt begrudgingly nodded but the glare remained attached to his lips. He walked back over to Greg and roughly pulled him up from the floor then turned him around. Greg could feel the rough prickly rope being wrapped tightly around his ankles and legs, insuring that any escape attempt would be futile.

He then felt the man behind him grab him around the torso and lift him up from the ground and soon he was being carried out of the room and up the flight of stairs.

When they reached the front of the cabin, Greg realized that the room was filled with the hunter's followers. Each of them looked at him like he was the vilest piece of trash they had ever laid eyes on. He felt the same of them.

Greg was carried to the kitchen table, which had been cleared off by the looks of it. Lanterns and candles were set to the side of the room, causing an eerie glow to flicker through the room. The men who had carried him backed away, melding into the crowd that had gathered around him.

"This ladies and gentlemen, is the tool that will lead us to those wolves most sacred place!" the crowd parted and the hunter walked forward; like Moses when he parted the red sea, but this man was the devil himself and the sea around him was polluted with the blood and bodies of the damned.

The hunter stepped forward in front of Greg then turned to the crowd to continue his speech.

"A seer is the most sacred weapon the wolves possess, and now that we have the seer in our toolkit we can use their own magic against them! With this seer we can see their moves before they even think them, we can see the amount of wolves that will fight! And we can see the outcome of this war so if we continue on the right path we will return with their alpha's head on a stick!" at this the hunters cheered, gleaming smiles littering their faces at the thought of a wolf pack's demise.

"It is expected that this seer will lie, it will deny us its visions, but I have a very effective way of dealing with stubborn wolves" at this the hunter pulled a switchblade from his back pocket and flicked the blade out. The blade shimmered in all its deadliness.

Turning back around to face Greg the hunter walked over to Greg's naked feet and ran the flat of the blade along the soles of his foot; a shiver of fear ran down his spine.

He cried out when he felt the sting of the blade slice across the center of his sole. Blood came cascading down and coated the blade in blood. Blood that was now not only Greg's life force but his child's as well.

The hunter walked over to Greg so that he was now standing by Greg's head. Wiping the blood off on his shirt.

"I have many ways, very efficient, very excruciatingly painful ways of making you do anything I want and I will use each and every one of these methods until you live and breathe my orders" the hunter said in a hushed voice so that only Greg could hear.

When the hunter pulled away, Greg was tempted to spit in his devilish face but he knew that with the injuries he already obtained the weaker he would become, so he refrained and a kept a lock on all the words that wanted to spew forth from his mind.

"The time is coming my loyal followers, the time where Las Vegas will be free of the abomination of the wolves and then we will move on to the next pack and continue our mission" from the way he was speaking, it was as if he was a preacher but Greg knew that the hunter's real mission was revenge.

Taking a moment of pity, the hunter grabbed a rag off of a nearby table. The hunter wrapped the rag around Greg's injured foot and tied it tightly to stench the blood flow. Greg whimpered in pain as he wasn't exactly being gentle.

"I don't want to have to kill you, but if you don't follow orders, your death can serve to antagonize your mate" the hunter informed him. Greg growled in response and his eyes glowed icy blue. The hunter's followers frowned in disgust. The hunter sighed and walked to the middle of the table..

"I was really hoping you could see reason, but it looks like I'm going to have to use another method against you" reaching into his pocket, the hunter produced a cell phone and pressed speed dial; Greg was surprised he could get service out here.

"Caleb, the tool ain't cooperating, take care of the problem" the hunter spoke in code before ending the call and putting the phone away, he then looked back down at Greg.

"Since your own pain seems to have no effect on you, the next logical choice is to attack your heart; anything that happens next is on your hands" turning away from Greg, the hunter addressed the men who had brought him up here.

"Take him back downstairs and bound him to the chair, and not one of you better do anything 'funny', the only one who's allowed to lay a hand on him is me. Unless I say otherwise" he ordered, glaring particularly hard at the one who had given Greg the bloody nose.

Doing as they were told the men stepped forward and lifted Greg up from the table. Carrying him through the crowd, they head off down the flight of stairs to the chair that Greg could see had dried blood both around and on the chair; from himself and past victims, most likely.

First untying his hands, Greg was pushed back hard into the chair. Then his legs were released and in quick procession his wrists and ankles were rebound to the chair. When their job was done, the men left and Greg was left alone.

In the time that he was alone, Greg pondered what the hunter meant when he said "attack your heart" the logical answer would be that they would kill Nick, but Nick was on pack territory and they didn't know the location, as far as he knew, so the only option left were...his friends.

Realization dawned on him and he began thrashing around; cutting and chaffing his wrists to the point where they were sensitive to the touch.

"I see you've figured out my message" said the hunter, mockery coating his words.

The hunter shut the door behind him and walked over to Greg, his phone in hand and flipped open.

"Take a look at what you've caused Greg" showing Greg the phone, his eyes widened and a growl emitted deep within his chest.

On the screen of the phone was a picture of Sara, laying in what looked like building rubble, unconscious and looked to be severely injured if the blood covering her and visible bones in her leg and arm was any hint.

"What did you do to her?" Greg demanded, his eyes filled with rage flaming inside the irises.

"Not what **I **did Greg, what **you** did and what you did was blow up your dear friend Sara Sidle" he answered, putting the phone away. The hunter patted Greg on the head, like a master does to his dog, then walked off whistling "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Da" with a skip in his step as he left the room, closing and locking the door behind him.

Rage flowed through Greg's veins, his body vibrating with fury, his wolf howling to be set free and his eyes were glowing, broadcasting his pain, combined with that of the wolves.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**Earlier On**

Sara had just left the crime lab after finishing a 15 hour shift. She had been reluctant to go, with only just barely scratching the surface of their latest case. Warrick had been sent out to retrieve Elliot's car, but when he had gotten there the car was gone and the two bumbling cops didn't even know the car was gone. But what had really made her reluctant to go was that when Warrick had returned, he had brought with him the security tape from a shop that was across the street from where the car had been. Grissom had taken Warrick by the arm and practically dragged him into the A/V lab, kicking Archie out and closing the door.

This spiked Sara and Catherine's curiosity and they went over to the door and tried to open it but found the door to be locked and the blinds in the room had been shut.

"Grissom?" Catherine banged on the door to show her annoyance and soon a crowd had gathered.

"Grissom, you'd better open this door now or so help me god I will kick it down" Catherine added, not liking being kept in the dark about a possible piece of evidence, especially in a case like this.

Sara turned to Archie, who was still stunned about being kicked out of his own lab.

"Do you have your key?" she asked, hoping he did.

Archie checked his pockets but came up empty handed. "I must have left them on my desk" he admitted, making a mental note to keep his keys in a pocket in case something like this ever happened again.

Ecklie chose that moment to appear and be his usual grumpy self.

"What the hell is going on here?" he demanded, looking around at all the people who should be working. Said people quickly scampered off to do their jobs. Archie was about to answer when Grissom opened the door and Warrick and himself vacated the room, tape in hand.

"Oh, hello Ecklie." Grissom greeted, preparing himself for the onslaught of angry words that were sure to come.

"What is the meaning of this Grissom. I have people who are supposed to be doing their jobs standing around the A/V lab like a bunch of annoying onlookers. Tell me what is going on now!" Ecklie demanded.

"Warrick and I were going over a sensitive piece of information for a case, now if you'll excuse us there are things I must attend to" before Ecklie could get another word in, Warrick and Grissom walked off. Catherine and Sara quickly followed after them, fully intending on getting to the bottom of what was going on. Once they reached Grissom's office Warrick was allowed entrance, but he stopped Catherine and Sara at the door.

"You two have been working nonstop for 15 hours straight. I want the two of you to g home, get some rest and come back at 3:00." before Grissom was able to shut the door, Sara blocked the door with her foot and gave Grissom an imploring look.

"What are you hiding from us Grissom?" she asked him, her tone low and demanding.

Without missing a beat Grissom replied, "You and Catherine will be briefed once I have all the facts" and with that Grissom nudged Sara's foot out of the way and closed the door, and from inside the room Grissom drew the blinds, leaving a slightly stunned Sara.

Catherine gave the door one hard glare before turning to Sara.

"I don't know what that man is hiding, but when I get the chance I am going to give both him and Warrick a piece of mind" Catherine stated, fixing her blouse that had become rumpled in the front.

Checking her watch she saw that it was nearing 1:00 am.

"Well I'd better go, Lindsay's got me on curfew" saying goodbye to Sara, Catherine walked off while Sara remained in the same spot staring at the door.

She had the unyielding urge to pound on the door until Grissom finally let her in, but that man could be stubborn when he wanted to and she knew that her pounding would be ignored. Coming to a decision, Sara decided that she would grill Grissom, and if failed she'd try Warrick. When she returned and headed for the locker room to get her things.

Entering the locker room, she saw that Catherine had already left and walked over to her locker and got her purse, coat and her spare set of clothes that needed to be washed. Having collected her things she closed and relocked her locker and left.

**Back to the present**

Sara parked in front her apartment building, gathered her things and got out. As she was walking up to her apartment's entrance she bumped shoulders with a streetwalker who mumbled an apology and continued on their way. Not thinking anything of it, she got her keys and as soon as she had the key in the lock and turned the key a small explosion started in the doorknob then grew to the size of a car that struck Sara, causing her to be swept up in the air and come tumbling down on the road.

Rubble and smoke filtered around her, car alarms were going off and people began to gather. One person was smart enough to call the police while everyone else stood in shock.

A man in simple attire, faded blue jeans, a long flannel shirt under a navy jacket with black work boots brought up his phone on camera settings and zoomed in on Sara' s injured figure. A small click was heard and man examined the photo he had taken. Satisfied with the picture the man sent the picture in a message then as he was walking away tossed the phone into a nearby trash bin.

In the distance sirens could be heard and with this the man disappeared into the shadows.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Nick returned to the house, almost on the brink of passing out and his skin was ashen white. He barely managed to climb the steps to the door and when he made it on to the porch he was stopped by the two guards.

"The council needs to meet with you; they also instructed us to escort you so that no more time is wasted" one said in a gruff voice while the other opened the door and ushered Nick inside. Walking by them, he entered the warm house and the door was closed behind them, sealing him in.

With a push forward, Nick began walking towards his destination but as he was walking a question came to mind.

"Is Greg already there?" he asked, taking a moment in passing to see that the door had damaged had been replaced with another.

"Neither your mate or Elliot have been heard or seen in hours" one of them replied, from the tone of his voice Nick could tell that this fact frustrated and angered him, most likely because him and his partner had received a verbal lashing for allowing three wolves, two of which were unaccounted for, leave the premises.

Hearing that Greg had yet to be seen or heard from worried Nick deeply, especially with the fact that a war on the brink.

Soon enough Nick found himself being escorted to the council's chambers and waiting behind the closed doors. In all their superiority were his parents standing beside the long rounded table with strict postures. Nick almost jumped when the door was closed and the click of the lock echoed around the large narrow room.

"So glad you could join us Nicholas. At least you have the decency to grace us with your presence" Charmont spoke, rising from his seat.

Moving closer, Nick walked towards the table and stopped when he was a foot away from his parents.

His father gave Nick a piercing look, one filled with disappointment, anger and though it was hidden in the darkness, love. "Hello son" his father spoke stiffly, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Hello father" Nick returned, his voice matching his father's own gruffness.

Roving over, Nick laid his eyes on his mother who unlike her husband, allowed her eyes to soften at the sight of her son, who she hadn't seen since the night he and Greg had left the safety of the pack territory. She had been truly hurt when Nick had left, especially by the fact that Nick had never called her, she had tried to call him but her calls were never returned.

"Hello mother" Nick spoke, his voice cracking with emotion at finally seeing his mother after all these years.

Stepping down from the step Jillian Stokes, at only 4'5, stood before her son; looking up at him with honest love and regret for having missed so many years of watching him grow up.

In a very rare moment his mother initiated a hug, but she did not squeeze hard enough to aggravate his wounds as if she had been warned about them, which was likely. He was not used to this kind of affection from his mother.

Growing up the only real affection he had received from either of his parents was the day that he had come of age to take over command of the pack. His mother always seemed hesitant while around Nick, like she was afraid of something.

_~Flashback~_

_Six year old Nicholas Stokes was running around his house, giggling and shouting with glee at the energy he was feeling, when he tripped over a corner of the rug and skidded across the floor and stopped when he came to the doorway leading into the living room. The pain started in the palm of his hands, turning raw red and traveled down his sensitive thighs to the back of his legs. _

_He tried to keep the tears in, knowing that his father would be disappointed in him because alphas didn't cry, they kept a mask on their emotions because showing emotion is showing weakness._

_But it just hurt so much!_

_No longer able to keep the tears at bay they began to dribble down his cheeks, like a babbling brook and choked sobs escaped his throat. He brought his knees up to his chest and tucked his chin in the crook of his knees. Rocking back and forth, he clenched his eyes shut, wishing someone would come and make his pain go away._

_His sobs alerted one of the housemaids who had been cleaning upstairs, she hurried down the stairs and when her eyes met the crying form of her employer's child, compassion filled her emotional eyes and she rushed to his side and scooped him up in her arms, rocking him back and forth._

_"What happened child?" she asked, not seeing any visible scratches or cuts on his skin._

_Nick sniffled and his eyes shyly traveled up to meet the kind lady's. _

_"I *hiccup* was playing *hiccup* and I fell and *sniff* got hurt" Nick answered, cherishing the rare affection he hardly received._

_"Well where does it hurt honey?" she asked, pulling away a little to scan his bodies for the injury that was hurting him. _

_"The back of my legs and my hands" he held up his hands, as if to prove to her that he was truly hurt._

_She gently grasped his hands and studied the raw skin before releasing Nick and getting up from the ground. From the dejected look in Nick's eyes she could tell that he thought she was going to leave him but she saw the surprise in his eyes as she gently took his hand and led him into the kitchen. _

_"Let's run those hands under the sink then we'll do something about those legs" pulling up a chair from the counter up close to the sink then lifted she Nick up from the ground and set him on top of the chair. Turning the faucet on to the cold setting she took Nick's small hands and held them underneath the flow of water. _

_When the water hit his sensitive skin Nick whined and tried to pull his hands back but the lady kept a firm grip on his hands, shushing him and telling him 'just a few more seconds'. A few seconds went by and she turned the faucet off and picked up a towel and patted Nick's hands dry. _

_To his surprise, Nick's hands did feel better but his legs still stung._

_Remembering the other injury the lady picked Nick up from the chair and set him down on the ground._

_"I'll be right back" _

_Nick watched as the nice lady walked over to the freezer and opened the door, returning a moment later with a weird long blue package that he had seen his dad use a lot after a day out in the hot sun. _

_Wrapping a towel around the bluish package Nick watched in fascination as she got on her knees behind Nick and he jumped when he felt sudden coldness on the back of his legs, so much so that it almost hurt. _

_"I know its cold but it will bring down some of the swelling" she soothed, squeezing his shoulder in reassurance. _

_"Vivian I need you to..." at the sound of his mother's voice Nick looked up and saw his mom standing in the doorway looking strangely at the scene she had walked in on. _

_Nick felt the cold object being taken away from his skin and turned his head to watch as the lady, he guessed to be Vivian rise from the ground and place the object on the table. _

_"Mistress Stokes, Young Nicholas was running in the house and he tripped and got some rug burn, I was only taking care of the pain he complained of" she spoke, her head hung in submission, not daring to make eye contact with the alpha's mate._

_Jillian Stokes continued to have that strange expression on her face as she took a cautious step forward and then another until she was standing in front of Nicholas. Looking down at her son Jillian's hands twitched at her sides, as if wanting to do something but was hesitant of the act._

_Seeming to come to a decision Jillian looked up at Vivian and addressed her. _

_"Take care of his injuries then put to him bed, my husband and I have an official meeting with the council tonight" she ordered. _

_Vivian nodded once then bent down and grasped Nick's hand and pulled him towards the doorway. _

_Before Nick was led from the room he turned his head in time to catch his mother taking a shaky breath and release it then squeeze her hands then open her palms and shake her hands. Her posture went back to its normal stiff posture._

_~End Flashback~_

It was much later on when Nick finally came to the realization that his mother had been grilled into never showing motherly affection to her son, orders coming directly from his father who wanted his son to be strong and independent man and in order to ensure his vision he had made sure that that affection Nick received from his mother stopped as soon as he was able to crawl. The rest of his growing up, like his first steps, first words and other important events were either captured in the minds of the servants or not witnessed at all.

He had come to resent his father and had slowly started to drift away from even trying to get some affection from his mother. He had ignored her calls, ignored the letters she sent and visiting had crossed his minds a few times when he had seen the way Catherine was with Lindsay but he reminded himself that actually seeing the love he knew that his mother had for him, would never happen except in his dreams.

His mother pulled away when she heard her husband clear his throat and came back to stand beside him, going back into her stiff posture, but her eyes held deep longing to hold her son again.

"Well Nicholas, I see you are still wearing your ring" his father noted, eyeing the silver metal on Nick's middle finger.

"Yes sir, I haven't taken it off since the day it was given to me" Nick grounded out, angry at his father for bringing up the ring that was literally attached to him. His father knew that the only way for the ring to be taken off was if his finger was surgically removed.

"That's a good man, you may have abandoned your pack but at least you have the dignity to carry the 'burden' you left behind" his father spoke, anger filling his words.

Nick's jaw clenched and his hands turned to fists at his side. The urge to attack his father right now was so overwhelming that his body was tingling with rage and adrenaline.

The day that ring had been welded onto his finger was one of the most horrific days of Nick's life, the only days that were worse than that was the day that Greg had been in the lab explosion and the day that Greg had been beaten up in that alley.

_~Flashback~_

_Nick was led through the council's chamber door and came to an abrupt stop when he saw his father, mother and council members waiting for him at the council's table. Facing the inevitable, Nick walked forward and kneeled down in front of his father and Charmont, his gaze on the floor. _

_"Nicholas Stokes, son, you have proven yourself to be a worthy heir to be alpha of this pack. When my reign has come to an end. You have endured the endless training that will give you the skills you will need to lead this pack_; _to put the pack first, your loved ones second and yourself lastly" his father spoke, reciting the speech he had been waiting to give since the day Nick was born._

_"You may rise" His father added, looking down at his son. _

_Nick rose from the floor and stood in the same stiff posture as his father and Charmont. _

_His father turned his head and nodded to one of the servants who carefully picked up an antique box, the size of a regular ring box, and handed the box over to his father who gave his thanks and turned back to face Nick who was eyeing the box with apprehension._

_"This was created for you on the day that we were blessed with knowledge of your coming. The finest metal melded together" his father opened the box and Nick saw the ring that would bind him to the pack, for the rest of his life. Much like the ring his father bared on his right middle finger._

_Taking the ring from the box his father stepped down from the step to stand in front of his son, Charmont was next to follow._

_"Raise your hand son" _

_Raising his hand, Nick stared directly into his father's eyes as Charmont came to stand behind Nick, placing his hands on Nick's shoulders to keep him in place. _

_"With this ring, I dub you the new Alpha" said his father, a touch of pride in his voice, which was quite rare. _

_In one slick motion the ring was pushed onto Nick's right middle finger and as soon as it came to its designated spot the ring flashed golden silver and burned melded itself onto Nick's finger. Nick cried out in pain, the melding process feeling like molting metal being poured all over his body. When the process was done Nick's hand was released and Charmont stepped back to his father's side, giving Nick some room to breathe. _

_"Congratulations son" _

_Nick looked up from the floor he had been gazing at to stare at his father with a blank expression. _

_~End Flashback~_

"We need to start planning our attack on the hunter and his followers. The longer we stall the more damage will be caused if we are caught off guard when they attack" Charmont spoke, interrupting the 'talk' between Nick and his father.

"Do we have any idea of how many followers he has?" asked Nick, looking at each and every one of the people before him.

One of the council members who were seated answered. "The last estimation we had was of about 1000, depending on whether more followers will be coming from other areas" the member replied.

Nick thought up another question, having a feeling the answer wouldn't be satisfactory.

"How many soldiers do we have in the pack?"

The member who had answered before sighed and looked down at the table. "500, maybe less"

Mentally cursing, Nick pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, calculating in his mind the chance they had of winning, by obvious means they were not in the pack's favor.

The door to the chamber suddenly opened and everyone turned to see a brutally wounded and exhausted Elliot limp into the room, but not even halfway across the carpet Elliot lost his balance and collapsed onto the floor, groaning in pain.

"Elliot!" Nick shouted, running towards the fallen man.

Struggling to kneel down, Nick settled with squatting beside the man and checking his injuries. From what Nick could see, Elliot was suffering major blood loss from a bullet that was a hair above his heart, making his one damn lucky son-of-a-bitch.

"What the hell happened?" Nick asked, now even more concerned about Greg.

"We were...attacked" Elliot answered, struggling to get the words out. He barely had enough energy to keep his eyes open.

"By who? The hunter?"

The others in the room looked on from afar the questioning that was going on.

"His followers" Elliot gasped, struggling to get oxygen in.

"And Greg?" Nick was almost too afraid to ask, but needing to know where his lover was.

"They took him...I don't know...where though" Elliot replied, his eyes beginning to close.

Nick slowly stood and his breathing sped up. No, the hunter couldn't have him! He was supposed to protect him! The hunter was going to pay with his life.

**A/N: Happy Halloween! I hope you all enjoyed this update and now that my computer is back up and running hopefully the next chapter won't take as long. Please review if you want more because reviews are like candy to me!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guess who's back!**

**Just so you know this is a repost of the old chapter 11, I noticed a major error in this chapter. Being that I said Kelly's last name was Donovan and being that Jesse's last name is Donovan I had to change. In no way are Jesse and Kelly related, so to those who thought she was.**

**Just so you know this chapter isn't betad because I was just too excited to get it out to you who still actually waited this incredible long time (sorry) to get this chapter and I couldn't wait for it to get out to you so here it is!**

Greg didn't know how long he had been here, it felt like years but it was more likely a day or two, he wasn't sure. But with all the pain that had been inflicted on him it felt like much longer.

Over the hours, he thinks, he had seen what the hunter had done to Sara, who was like a sister to him, the lock that had been keeping all the obscenities in had rusted and crumpled, landing with a dull thud in his mind.

The first follower who had come anywhere near him had received a thorough lashing of wits, and in return he had received another black eye, two broken fingers and a dislocated shoulder.

The next one who had followed, with manic glee, picked up a thin surgical knife and had drawn long bloody lines down his face, for that Greg had basically emasculated the man with quirky remarks about the size of his length.

After the last amount of abuse Greg had taken to staring off into space, keeping his mouth shut while trying not to jerk his immobile hands to his face to wipe away the annoying blood that he could feel slithering down his face and neck.

A creaking at the doorway caught his attention and his eyes moved to that side of the room and he saw a girl, likely no more older than 17 with a bucket and a ragged old cloth staring at him, seeming to be in fear of approaching him.

Walking towards him Greg analyzed her every move, anticipating an attack. The girl stopped a few inches away from him and, with her eyes still on him, lowered the bucket and dropped the rag into the water that Greg could now see.

"They sent me to clean your wounds" she whispered, averting her eyes to the rag as she picked up the soaked material and squeezed the excess water out. When the rag was wet enough she stood up and got closer to Greg and as she was lifting her hand towards his face he saw them, a thin silver mechanism around her wrist and on closer inspection he saw that there was a similar mechanism on her other wrist.

Since Greg had been severely beaten his senses had been a little fuzzy but now that the girl was closer he could smell a familiar scent, the scent of a wolf; though her scent didn't match the scents of other members of his pack he figured that she was from another pack altogether.

"You're a prisoner" it was meant to come out as a question but it came out as a statement.

she paused before continuing what she had been sent down to do.

"I am not a prisoner, I am merely a servant to people who are far more superior then I" she replied, gently dabbing at a small cut that was underneath his eye.

"Is that what he told you? That you're a lower being than him? That isn't true, compared to them they are nothing more than New York sewer rats" Greg said, not liking the way this girl was talking, she was acting like she was brainwashed and Greg wouldn't put it past the hunter.

"He said that you would use words against them" she replied, dipping the now bloody cloth into the water and rinsing it before going back to dabbing at the wounds.

Changing the subject Greg asked another question.

"What's your name?" he asked, hoping that by asking a simple question he could slowly begin to gain her trust.

She paused in her ministrations, obviously un-use to being asked such a personal question.

"Master calls me servant" she replied, a confused and somewhat uneasy expression on her face.

"No, what's your real name? The name your parent's gave you" Greg elaborated.

Some of the pieces were beginning to come together and the picture he was getting was becoming very disturbing.

She swallowed, her tongue feeling like a thick muscle clogging her airway and her hands trembled moderately.

"I-I don't know" she answered, tears beginning to gather in the corners of her hazel eyes.

But, as if a switch had gone off in her mind she wiped her eyes and went back to dabbing at the wounds, the trembling all but stopping.

Greg knew that his window was closing and he needed to act quick if he was going to successfully make an ally.

"I know that you were most likely stolen from your family, you were most likely just a baby and the hunter is all you've ever known but what he has done to you is wrong! You belong with your own kind, with people who will care and love you. You can come stay with me and my pack, the Las Vegas pack and if you want we can help you track down your own pack" Greg proposed, praying he was breaking through the wall this girl had put around herself.

She did not speak, going over the words the man had said. There was a part of her, a part that had been dormant for as long as she could remember that yearned to be with more of her kind but she had been brought up being told that what she was was evil, an abomination so different emotions were conflicting with one another and she didn't know what to feel.

Greg could see the yearning in her eyes and was about to elaborate more when he heard a shout from upstairs, one of the followers, call out "servant!"

She stood up from the floor and collected the supplies she had brought and quickly exited the room, the shouting becoming more insistent.

"She's too far gone to be 'saved' Greg" Greg didn't look up as the hunter came towards him, keeping a steady gaze on the floor.

This did not deter the hunter from continuing to talk.

"She has been with me since she was only a few days old. For seventeen years now I have trained her to serve my followers and myself. Yes, in the beginning, when she had matured, she tried to resist but soon she lived and breathed my orders" walking behind Greg the hunter clasped his shoulders, Greg involuntarily flinched at the unwanted contact.

He internally sighed as the hunter removed his hands but was soon startled when his head was jerked back so that he was eye level with the hunter's midsection.

"I see you've pissed some of my followers off and in doing so only added to the pain you are about to receive if you do not do as I ask" the hunter stated, tracing one of the more gruesome cuts down his cheek.

Greg could hear people, three at the most, enter the room.

"Set it down on the table" the hunter ordered, not taking his eyes off of Greg.

A loud 'thud' resonated through the room as something heavy was set on a table on the left side of Greg.

The hunter looked down at Greg with a sickly sweet smile on his demented face while gently stroking his face, like a lover might after making love.

"How much do you want us to use/" a female voice asked.

"Half a cup" the hunter answered, the smile remaining on his face.

A woman, who looked to maybe in her late 30's, appeared at the hunter's side holding a small tin cup.

Letting go of his head the hunter took the offered cup from her and sent a signal to the other people in the room, three in total, surround him.

"What I'm about to give you is a vision inducer, this vision will force you to have visions about anything I want, and if I do say so myself I can be quite creative" the hunter explained, swirling the contents of the cup.

Greg's head was forced in place by the woman he had previously seen and his mouth pried open by another man. He tried to resist, biting at the nearest digits towards him as the cup got closer to his open mouth.

But it was no use. The contents of the cups was forced into his mouth and his mouth was forced shut by two strong hands.

The potion tasted like chlorine and felt like acid as it went down his throat. He tried to keep the potion from going down but his body's need for oxygen took over and the liquid slipped down his throat. His mouth was released leaving him gasping for breath.

The hunter leaned down so that his mouth was beside his ear and whispered, like one telling another a secret, "you killed them Greg, everyone you care about are dead; Sara, Catherine, Warrick, Grissom, your entire family and Nick, all dead because of you" he whispered, squeezing Greg's shoulder.

His followers watched in silence. Knowing that if they spoke they could ruin the hunter's plan.

Greg's eyes began misting over and his breathing and heart rate increased, feeling much like a vision only this was no vision, this was a demonic nightmare.

"Sara was killed in that explosion Greg, she must have flown 15 ft. before crashing down on that cold hard, skin tearing road, her once delicate features burned to a crisp..."

As the hunter whispered visions were forced upon Greg, visions that sickened and horrified him and when he tried to close his eyes they were forced back open.

Greg was forced to watch as Sara was blown into the air from a bomb that had been placed inside the door and when she made contact with the road Greg tried to run to her but it was as if his feet had been cemented to the ground and his throat felt like it was being squeezed.

85% of her body was charcoal black and the 15% that wasn't were 3rd degree burns. Smoke and small clusters of fire permitted her damaged body, her clothes were reduced were to shreds and her once beautiful short brown hair was now thin strands and patches. She looked like a victim in one of their CSI cases that was a victim of a fire.

The once beautiful body of Sara Sidle began to move, sounding like crinkling paper and her skin flaked off like an onion revealing burned muscle underneath. He wanted to scream and cry as her crisp and boney hand reached out to him, sounds that resembled the sounds one might make while being choked gurgled from her throat.

Pitiful crying sounds emitted from Greg, and tears started running down his cheeks.

"And we can't forget poor Ms. Catherine Willows, her silky smooth neck slit clean..."

The vision of Sara melted away and was replaced by a vision of Catherine gurgling and choking on her own blood, blood circling around her and her eyes wide open with a dull white mist covering her once beautiful blue eyes.

Greg let lose a mantra of "I'm sorry" coming from his trembling lips.

"And what about Warrick? The man was like a brother to you, reduced to nothing more than ash in the wind from an 'unfortunate' car bomb"

Another vision ventured into his mind and he looked on from afar, powerless to do anything as he watched his friend, his brother, being burned to do anything as he watched his friend, his brother, being burned alive in his personal car, one that he had put so much time into.

"We're only getting started Greg"

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Nick watched as the soldiers he had gathered from his pack, only totaling out to 110, practicing fighting techniques (some in wolf form others in human) while other soldiers were working on making armor for the two forms that would be fighting. Hopefully more soldiers would be sent from other allied packs.

As he watched he noticed one soldier, who looked to be no more than 16 attempting to perfect a fighting technique, that dealt with kicking, punching and jabbing but was not succeeding at it.

Pushing himself off the wall he was leaning against he made his way over to the enthusiastic young man.

When he was close enough he almost got kicked in the eye but with his quick reflexes he was able to catch the foot and meet the surprised boy face to face. Releasing the foot Nick spoke.

"You've got spirit kid but you're not balancing your body right" Nick said taking a step back he demonstrated how the kick should be accomplished and watched as the kid copied his movements.

"Good. What's your name? And how old are you?" Nick asked wondering and worrying that a kid was getting involved in this war.

"Jesse Donovan, 18 sir" he answered practicing the kick again.

Nick was surprised at this but also a little suspicious because this kid looked way younger than that and the fact that Nick could tell by the way the kid avoided eye contact, a tell-tale sign.

"How old are you really Jesse?" Nick crossed his arms across his chest, waiting for an answer.

Jesse stopped practicing the routine and came to a standstill, looking sheepish at being caught in his lie.

"17 sir" he replied, looking down at the ground, feeling that he dare not look his alpha in the eye, for fear of being punished for life.

"Look at me" Nick demanded, but in a gentle voice to soothe some of the boy's fears.

Jesse slowly made eye-contact with him.

"What are you doing here Jesse? This war is a very dangerous thing to be a part of and I can guarantee you that half or maybe more of the pack members around you won't be coming back and I can't and won't have your possible injury or death clouding my mind; I all ready have my mate, who was stolen from by the hunter, to occupy a large portion of my mind, I can't handle another load" Nick stated, not wanting this boy anywhere near the battle.

"Sir-"

"Call me Nick" Nick interrupted, hating the term sir because it made him appear to be above everyone else.

Jesse looked at Nick in surprise at being given such a privilege.

"Nick, because of that-that monster my little sister will grow up without her ever knowing her father who was taken and killed by the hunter as an example that wolves are not supreme beings that should be killed like the animals they are. I want to help kill the bastard who tore my family apart and give my family some justice" Jesse swore, a similar fire burning in his eyes as was reflected in Nick's earlier.

Nick straightened his posture, staring the boy down, who in turn stared right back.

"You have a lot of untamable fire in your heart and soul Jesse, I have the same fire and I can relate with your need for justice but...if you're going to fight in this war you're going to need more training" Nick watched the joy light Jesse's face and a smile crawl onto his face.

"Thank you Nick, I promise to help bring the hunter down and return your mate to you" Jesse promised.

Nick smiled, "thank you, and I promise to help you get justice for your family" Nick promised back.

"Roger!" Nick called turning his head towards one of the other trainers.

Roger said goodbye to the men that he had been talking to and hurried over to Nick.

"Yes sir?" he asked, coming to attention before Nick.

"Roger, this is Jesse Donovan. I want you to train him to fight in both human and wolf form to the best of your ability" Nick said, getting into leading state of mind.

Roger looked at Jesse and noticed how young he looked, 'too young to be in this war' his mind supplied but before he could voice his thoughts Nick stopped him.

"I know he's young but he's got the heart of a warrior and justice needs to be brought for his family" Nick said, keeping his promise to Jesse.

Sighing Roger nodded, "As you wish sir, I'll be sure to teach him everything I know"

"Thank you, I leave you in very capable hands Jesse. Listen and do everything he says because it could save your life" as he was walking away he stopped beside Roger and whispered, even though Jesse likely heard, "take care of him on the battlefield, for the instances I cannot" stepping away he saw Roger nod then continued on his way.

As he was nearing another group of soldiers who were training his phone began to ring. Stopping, Nick reached into his pocket and pulled his phone out and saw the name 'Warrick' flashing on the screen. He debated on answering the phone or not but his gut instinct told him it was important so he accepted the call and held the phone to his ear.

"Stokes"

"Nick you and Greg have to come to Mercy General now!" Warrick said, anxiety and fear in his voice.

"Why what's going on?" Nick asked, now on high alert at the mention of a hospital.

Warrick sighed and tilted his head up to look at the white ceiling of Mercy General.

"It's Sara man, she was a victim of a bomb that went off inside her apartment building doo...she's in really bad shape. They have her in the ICU for burn victims and the doctors don't know if she's going to make it...we could lose her" Warrick's voice cracked and a tear slid down his cheek.

Nick was frozen, not quite accepting what he was being told. Sara? No, she was like a sister to him and to hear that he could lose her made his heart clench and his blood boiled when he deduced that the hunter had a hand in this. Now he had even more reason to kill that vial stain of life.

"How's Grissom?" he asked, knowing that the man would be affected the most out of all of them.

"He's back at the crime scene going over everything with murderous intentions in mind and I'll turn the other cheek if need be" Warrick replied, watching a nurse wheel a man who looked to have a broken arm and leg past the waiting room.

"Have you seen her?" was Nick's next question after a few moments had gone by. He was now leaning against one of the pillars in the courtyard; the sound of grunts and weapons clashing together in the background.

"Yeah, it almost doesn't even look like her man with all the bandages and machines hooked up to her...you and Greg have to come help us find the bastard that did this!" Warrick pleaded, his voice filled with conviction.

Nick wished with all his might that he could leave but it was very crucial time for his pack and though he loved Sara like a sister and felt vile just thinking it but his main concern was Greg. Sara was in capable hands and there was no need to worry about her being tortured by disgruntled nurses.

"Warrick...I wish to god that I could but-"

"No man, don't even say it! Sara needs us more than ever right now and instead of helping her you and Greg are playing wild kingdom! I don't care what the hell you guys are doing so get your asses back here in the city and help us bring this guy down!" Warrick raised his voice but was immediately shushed and glared at by one of the passing nurses.

Nick bit back the retort that was bubbling up within him and pinched his eyes close, calming himself down before answering.

"Okay, I'll be there as fast as I can but Greg" an image of what Greg could be going through flashed though his mind "he's not feeling too well right now and I don't want to make him worse by getting him out of bed" Nick silently sent a prayer that Greg would be returned to him alive and relatively unharmed.

"Whatever, just get back here as quick as you can" without saying goodbye Warrick ended the call and snapped his phone shut, tucking the phone away in his pants pocket and brought his hands and head down in a prayer position.

Sighing, Nick put his phone away and walked around to the front of the pillar and called for one of the strongest warrior he had. A man named Jonathon Bryce, 45 yrs. old so about 10 yrs. older than himself but as Nick had come to see he was still able to amaze him with the strength he possessed.

Jonathon jogged over to him and stood before him with his hands calmly at his side.

"Yes Nick?" Nick had talked to him a few hours earlier about addressing him by his name instead of sir.

"I'm promoting you to second in command. You've proven yourself to be enriched with strength and wisdom. I can't think of anyone else so deserving. Congratulations!" Nick smiled at the surprised look on his face.

"Thank you Nick, it will be my honor to serve beside you" John replied, gratitude practically wafting from his body.

"No need to thank me, you've earned it. Now there's some things that I have to attend to and I'm not sure when I'll return so I'm going to need you to take over while I'm away. If anything goes wrong I want you to call me" as he said this he located a small pencil from his pants pocket and a rumpled receipt from a diner he and Greg had gone to and wrote his cell number down and handed the crumpled paper to John.

"If I may ask Nick, what exactly do you have to do that requires you to leave here?" John asked folding the paper and securing it in his pants pocket.

Nick thought about lying but then changed his mind, he had all ready lied enough and he didn't think he could handle another one.

"One of my closest friends was hurt and I need to help find whoever is responsible" Nick was about to turn to leave but was stopped by what John said.

"Is this friend human?" he asked, his question blunt and to the point.

Slowly turning to face him Nick answered, "would it bother you if they were?" Nick really hoped that the man he had chosen to be his second in command was not one who believed humans to be below them.

Jonathon chose his next words carefully, seeing that he had treaded on rocky territory.

"Not exactly...I just believe that humans tend to be nothing more than...nuisances but I also believe that humans have created a world that accommodates us nicely" John struggled through his reply, choosing his words as he went.

Maybe Nick should reconsider decision.

"Jonathon, it seems to me that you and many others in this pack are forgetting that we ourselves are part human and in being so, humans are on the same level as we; they have fought and won many of their battles for peace and justice showing that they have the means and capabilities of defending themselves should the need arise" Nick commented, stepping closer towards Jonathon.

"But you are forgetting the damage they've done! They kill each other for money, sex and drugs and we cannot forget the wars they have started that have killed millions of their own! They are killing this planet everyday and all they care about is celebrity gossip!" Jonathon countered, not backing down.

Their arguing had caught the attention of the others and they were now watching the exchange with great interest.

Noticing their stares Nick grabbed John by his upper arm and dragged him into an empty building that was going to be turned into an armory.

Letting go of Jonathon's arm Nick looked out at the people who were still staring and ordered them to get back to work. Jumping, everyone scrambled back to what they had originally been doing.

Slamming the door Nick turned to face John who was now standing to the left side of room with his arms across his chest, the fight still in his eyes.

"Nick I can tell you have a soft spot for the humans but-" Nick held up his hand to silence him.

"The 'humans' have names and they are my closest friends. I owe my life to them and I have and will continue to repay them for as long as I am able" Nick walked past John who was now silent, waiting for Nick to finish what he had to say.

"I remember when I was growing up here the stories I would hear about the 'humans,' stories about the senseless violence they caused and wars that would go on for years with no end in sight. Like you I believed the humans were terrible and for many years I completely ignored their existence but then I met one and she changed my views entirely" in his mind Nick went back to the night his entire view changed...

~Flashback~

After finding out that Greg was sick he had paid him a visit to give him a get well kiss on the cheek and the promise to see him again tomorrow, after that Nick had decided to go on a walk.

The moon was high in the sky and casted an ethereal glow on the land below. A slight wind picked up and he adjusted the collar of his coat and he continued on his way.

He had been walking for about 15 minutes when he began to see smoke in the distance, he thought nothing of it until he heard shouts for help coming from the direction of the smoke. Beginning to sprint he could start to make out a car that was upside down with fire coming from all around the car.

The closer he got to the car the more smoke he was forced to smell with his sensitive nose and when he got even closer he could make out just the tiniest hint of human. The overpowering scent of the smoke almost made the scent of human nonexistent but he still managed to catch the whiff. He stopped in his tracks a few feet away and, as sick as it might sound, he contemplated on whether he should help or not.

This human had gone onto wolf territory, whether by accident or not, she would have to be punished if brought to the council, or his father for that matter. The punishment they would inflict on her would either be imprisonment for life, tortured so severely that she wouldn't remember a thing or threatened to have her loved ones killed in front of her. Leaving her here to die would be the quickest and merciful method.

But then there was the option of saving her and getting her someplace safe, but that option would include him being punished as well if he were caught.

"Help me! Please!"

The voice that cried from the burning car was so heart-wrenching and filled with terror that the lessons he had been ingrained with growing up were at battle with his morale of helping others and this person most definitely needed his help.

Having to fight against everything he had been taught he took the final few steps forward and came to a stop beside the car. Getting down on his hands and knees he looked in through the shattered window to find a struggling young woman pinned against the dashboard with various wounds all over her body. Over her screaming and the crackling of the flames Nick shouted to her.

"Hey! Hey! Look at me!" the woman's screaming died down and she slowly moved her head. A moan of pain emitting from her lips. he squinted her eyes to try and make out the dark figure who was calling to her.

"I'm going to get you out of here! Just hang on!" Springing up from the ground Nick examined the time bomb before him, calculating in his mind the safest way to get her out without worsening her condition.

Placing his hands on the bottom, which was now the top of the car, Nick gripped the door edges and pried the door away from the rapidly burning skeleton and chucked the metal away. Squatting down Nick quickly assessed the state the car was in then a plan started forming in his mind.

"Okay, I'm going to try and get you out but you're going to have to do everything I say okay?" When she received an affirmative, a shaky head and Nick reached inside the car towards the dashboard where he could see her legs being crushed.

"I need you to stay completely still. I'm going to warn you right now that this is going to hurt, a lot" Giving her a moment to prepare herself Nick gripped as much of the underside as he could then heaved upward. The covering groaned and cracked as it was forcibly moved and Nick internally apologized when the woman let loose a scream of pain, when he looked he could make out tears dripping down her face.

Once the dashboard was high enough Nick told her the next stage of his plan as he worked to unbuckle the seatbelt that could have quite possible saved her life.

"Now I'm going to have to touch you now okay but it's the only way I can get you out here" When the seatbelt was taken care of Nick help her up before she could fall and mumbled his apology when she cried out in pain.

Scooting himself farther into the flaming car Nick gently wrapped his hands around her waist, being careful to avoid what looked to be a nasty cut along her right side, and carefully began pulling her out.

She moaned and cried out in pain as she was removed from the wreckage and Nick felt the sting of glass bite into his palms and arms, blood slithered from the bites and added to the blood all ready shed.

Nick managed to get her out of the car and lug her away from the wreckage. As if a timer had gone off the car exploded and sent a brilliant shroud of fire into the air and pieces of the car to spraying outward. Being able to hear the sudden explosion from within the car Nick pulled the woman to the ground to the ground and covered her body with his own. Heat and flames licked his back as it flew over them.

After some time had gone by Nick tilted his head around and looked at the destruction around them. Flaming pieces of the car was scattered around them; the air smelled of burning metal and smoke filtered through the air. Looking behind them Nick saw that the only thing remaining of the vehicle was a broiled skeleton.

Getting up he helped the woman up and steadied her with his hands.

"What's your name?" he asked her, catching her eye when she looked up at his voice. She was visibly shaken and her breathing was coming out in quick gasps, a sign that she was hyperventilating.

"Breath in through your nose and exhale through your mouth" Nick demonstrated for her than watched as she started copying him.

A few moments later her breathing was relatively normal and her shaking had done down a more controllable level.

She made eye contact with Nick and spoke.

"Thank you...I'm Kelly" she breathed out, still a little in shock over what had just occurred.

"You're welcome, my name's Nick. Do you think you can stand?' he asked, hoping that she could. The explosion had been loud to human ears and to a wolf's it was like a blare horn being pressed directly beside their ear. The reason he was so concerned was the fact that she had crashed into pack territory and the same laws that they held outside didn't apply and humans were not welcome.

She slowly pushed himself up from the ground, grunting in pain but still managed to sit upright.

"I think so" she grounded out. Nick grabbed her hand and helped her up from the ground . Kelly whimpered in pain and Nick was quick to swing her arm around his neck and take on some of her weight.

"Do you have a phone?" Nick asked, beginning to lead her away from the crash site and towards his house.

Kelly checked her pockets and produced a severally crumpled and mashed cell phone.

"I guess that's a no" Nick commented taking the warped phone from her and flinging the phone away. She looked at him a bit oddly but didn't comment and he was grateful for that because he really didn't want to explain to her that the reason he tossed her phone was because he wanted to make sure that if by some miracle the GPS in the phone still worked, which he doubted but still, he didn't want to reveal the location of the boundary to any other outsiders.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked, after they had been walking for a while. The accident site was far behind them and the smoke rising into the air was the only visible piece of evidence.

She was beginning to slip so Nick hefted her body back up and wrapped a balancing arm around her waist, being careful of her injured torso.

"My house. The nearest medical center is at least half an hour away. You can spend the night at my house then first thing in the morning I can drive you down to the center" Nick answered, his speed increasing when he saw his house in the distance. Him and his family lived a mile away from the village which he found odd growing up and when he asked his father why they lived so far away he said it was because it gave them privacy and should danger come he would have enough time to send my mother and me away to safety.

"Why do you live all the way out here?" she pondered, finding it odd that people would live in the middle of nowhere in Las Vegas.

Nick wondered how much he should tell her, if he told her too much he could risk her telling the wrong people and then his pack would no longer have a place to call their own.

"My father likes his privacy and where he goes my mother goes so consequently I was born here" they were now in front of the house and Nick was quick to tug her alone to the side of the house so that his parents or the staff wouldn't see them.

Coming to the back of the house Nick helped her over to the back door and had to work t balance her weight as he reached into his pocket and retrieved his ring of keys.

Finding the right key Nick slid the key into the lock and turned, when he heard the satisfying slick he pushed the door in and stepped through, being sure to grab his key before closing and relocking the door.

The inside of the house was pitch black, a human's eyesight would be utter blindness without the assistance of a light source but to a wolf's it was just like daylight. Nick led Kelly through the house towards the cellar, trying to be as quiet as humanely possible because a simple bump of a chair could alert the entire household.

Reaching the door to the cellar Nick quietly opened the door and guided Kelly down the stairs. Halfway down she tripped and a loud groan echoed up the stairs. Nick panicked when he heard the creaking of a door upstairs and the padded footfalls of someone walking.

"Shit!" Nick cursed. Quickening his pace Nick led her down the stairs, showed her where to hide then ran back up the stairs and as he was closing the door he senses his father standing behind him, slowly turning Nick met his father's cold stare.

"Nicholas, what are you doing up at this time of night? You should be resting up for tomorrow" he scolded, his nose caught the scent of fresh blood and his eyes traveled down his son's body and saw blood and small cuts along his arms and hands, but what infuriated him further was the god awful smell of human.

Nick looked down, knowing that this was not the time to meet his father's gaze.

His father stepped closer and took a closer look at Nick. Nick closed his eyes as his father leaned forward and took a whiff of the blood. Leaning back he looked at his son with disapproval.

"Where have you been?" he asked, his voice filled with its usual coldness.

"I went into the city to see how the humans lived and while I was there a man was attempting to steal a lady's purse and I intervened" Nick still did not meet his father's gaze and his hands were clasped behind his back. The scene they made was very much like a drill sergeant scolding a cadet.

His father straightened out and a flash of anger appeared in his eyes then vanished in a blink in an eye.

"You went into the city, unsupervised" his father stated, his voice took on, if it were possible, an even colder tone.

"Yes sir" Nick answered, sensing the onslaught of anger that was simmering on the surface.

"Look me in the eyes when I address you!" Jonathon ordered, angered by his son's refusal to meet his gaze.

Nick slowly lifted his eyes and mentally flinched when he saw the pure anger reflecting in his father's pit less gaze. He was tempted to avert his eyes but knew that that would only anger his father further.

"What were you thinking! Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? Those humans are uncontrollable! Always killing their own for the most mundane reasons and to think that a rival pack could have been in the area, do you have any idea how fast they could've tracked you down and rip the skin from your flesh then tear into your insides and bring your carcass back to their territory and mount you in the middle of their village! Your foolishness could have cost this pack a generation of future alphas!" he ranted, annunciating his words with violent hand motions.

Nick took it all in, knowing that talking back would only worsen things. He was shocked out of his stoickedness when his father reached out grabbed his throat, applying enough pressure to weaken his ability to breath. Nick's eyes widened and he shot his eyes upward, meeting his father's piercing glare.

"You are to never leave pack territory without an escort ever again and if I find out that you ever disobey that order you will be punished by the council themselves. Do you understand?" he hissed, taking away some of the pressure from Nick's neck so he could speak.

"Yes sir" he breathed, his voice low and breathy.

Withdrawing his hand his father took a step back and laid his arms at his side.

"I expect you to be wearing the suit your mother put out for you tomorrow and to be ready to go at noon so that we can get to the ceremony on time. Goodnight son" turning his father walked away and headed back towards his bedroom.

Waiting a few minutes until he heard his father climbing back into bed Nick rubbed his sore throat then turned around and opened the door and descended the stairs. He walked over to where he left Kelly and squatted down in front of her.

"I have to go upstairs for a sec to get a first aid kit" he muttered, about to get up but she reached out and grabbed his hand, preventing him from leaving.

"Are you okay?" she asked, concerned about the man, no boy, before her. He may be a man in appearance but looking at him now he looked nothing more than a scared little boy. She may have not been much older than him but as a mother to a one and three year old her maternal instincts were kicking in.

Nick looked up at the actual concern he heard in her voice and was left speechless by the sudden concern she showed towards him. She didn't even know him and yet she was showing concern for him.

"Yeah...Yeah I'm fine. Thanks for asking though" he gave her a small smile then took his hand back and stood up, she followed his movements with her eyes.

"Listen I need you to be as quiet as you can and if at all possible don't..move too much, this room is right under my parent's room and they are really, really light sleepers" he advised, she nodded her head and Nick nodded his head to himself, checking off a box on his to do list in his mind.

1. Get human to cellar-check

2. Make sure human follows instructions and does not awaken parents-semi-check.

She had managed to awaken his father but luckily the human smell that was all ready on himself was enough to keep his father from inspecting further but it was a semi-check because she was now going to try and be quiet. Now next on the checklist was:

3. Go upstairs, get first aid kit, get back downstairs and bandage Kelly's injuries.

It was a long checklist but, well, he wanted to get this done quickly and get Kelly on her way.

Ascending the stairs Nick grasped the doorknob and slowly turned the brass knob to the right and froze when a very soft but loud to his ears click came from the action. After waiting a moment and opening his ears to all over the house, when he didn't hear anything he relaxed and pushed the door open. Stepping out in the hallway Nick crept along the hallway, being extra careful not to step on the squeaky floorboards that were placed strategically throughout the house.

Coming to the stop in front of the stairs Nick lifted one foot and placed it on the second step, purposely skipping the first one because of its tendency to make the loudest squeak in the house. Quickly taking the steps two at a time, stepping over the steps and areas that squeaked, until he finally made it to the top of the stairs on the second floor.

Continuing on his way Nick snuck past his parent's door, slowing his pace to make sure that he could recognize the areas that squeaked and groaned under his weight. Making it pass the room Nick quickened his pace and made it to the bathroom that was a few doors down. He walked over to the sink and opened the bottom cabinet where the first aid kit was located. Setting the kit down on the sink Nick popped the latches open and looked inside to see that the kit looked to have been recently restocked, not surprising since his mother always made sure to have supplies on hand in case of an emergency.

He knew that before he could help Kelly with her wounds he would have to deal with his own. Though they were insignificant to him and was not causing him pain, he knew that he would have to deal with them now so as to not accidentally get any of his blood into her. Though there was nothing in his blood he wanted to make her feel more at ease.

Taking out the tweezers with the hand that had the least amount of glass shards Nick started pulling shards from the palm of his right hand and his arms, dropping the pieces into the trash bin then moving on to his left.

Once that was all taken care of Nick then wiped the cuts up with antibiotic wipes then did his best with placing adhesive bandages on his injuries then taping them down.

Re-latching the latches Nick took the kit off the sink and left the room, once again tip-toeing past his parent's room then cautiously making his way down the stairs and across the hallway back to the cellar.

Opening the door Nick descended the stairs and when he was on ground level walked back over to Kelly and squatted down where he flipped the kit open and got out a antiseptic wipe, tore the package open then went about cleaning the visible wounds on her face, arms and legs. Setting the used wipes aside Nick reached back into the kit and got out some adhesive bandages and tape to keep the bandages in place. While he worked he talked to her, to keep her mind off of the pain she had to be going through.

"So, what are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?, if you don't mind me asking of course" he quickly added, not wanting to pry.

She shook her head in response, "no, no it's all right. I don't know, my husband, Tim, and I got into another fight and I just got in my car and drove off headed god knows where! I guess I figured I'd keep driving until I found where I'm supposed to be, who knows, maybe I was supposed to end up in that accident...maybe I'm supposed to be here, right now, with you" she watched his face to see what his reaction would be.

Stopping what he was doing Nick looked up at her, he could see in her eyes that what she was doing wasn't a come on, although to anyone else it would be, it was actually her telling him that she knew something was wrong and that she wanted to help him. This woman continued to amaze him, she was the one who was terribly hurt and yet she still continued to be concerned about him. He was truly touched.

Clearing his throat for no reason, just something to do, Nick reached out and grabbed a fresh antibiotic wipe. Tearing the pack open Nick hovered the wipe over her torso.

"There's some pretty nasty cuts along your torso so I'm going to have to..." he didn't continue his sentence, figuring that she understood where he was going. She clearly did because she nodded her head in understanding then carefully lifted her blouse up a little to reveal the cuts on her torso. He could see that some pieces of glass were still embedded in her skin and he was surprised that she wasn't showing as much pain as a normal human would have.

Setting the wipe down the wrapper he picked up the tweezers and began the task of plucking the shards of glass from her skin. She flinched and hissed every once in awhile but after a few minutes all the shards of glass were out.

He picked the wipe back up and got to work.

"Did your father do that to you?" she asked, noticing the bruises that were appearing around his neck.

Knowing what she was talking about Nick did not stop what he was doing but deflected her question.

"Must have been a pretty bad fight if you drove all the way out here, there's no other civilization for miles" Nick commented, finishing cleaning the wounds and went on to pick up adhesive bandages and placing them in the desired spots then picking up the 4x4 sterile gauze to keep the bandages in place.

"It's not right for a parent to hit their child, believe me I know. My dad used to take all his frustrations out on me when I was still living with him but-"

"The heating was recently fixed down here so you don't have to worry about freezing, I'm pretty sure there's blankets in that cupboard over there so if you want something to lay on just ask and I'll get it for you" he pointed out, grabbing the kit and standing up from the floor.

She watched him start to walk away to the other side of the room and spoke to stop him from walking any further.

"Nick-"

"Kelly don't. While I can appreciate your concern I have to tell you that it's better if you don't know about my personal life, better for the both of us" Nick started walking again and sat down on the floor across from her. He would have stayed beside her but he had a better hearing angle here and he was afraid of getting too close to this human, because even though he had managed to hide her for this long he didn't know if he could truly get her out of here before someone found her out and she was never seen again.

~A few Hours Later~

The following morning Nick woke up early and snuck Kelly out of the house and over to the truck that his dad had gotten him for his 18th birthday.

He drove her the medical center and while they were waiting for a doctor to come Kelly turned and spoke to him.

"I just want to thank you, for everything and if you ever need someone to talk to..." she looked around and spied an abandoned pen on the table in front of them and wrote her phone number on a pad of paper. Tearing the paper off she handed it to him.

"Just call me, any time and I promise you that I will pick up" she promised.

Nick took the paper from her and slipped it into his pocket. He knew he wouldn't call her and he believe that deep down Kelly also knew this but it was the thought that counts.

"Kelly Fernandez?" asked a nurse, looking around the waiting room.

Kelly stood up, "that's me" she answered.

"The doctor with you now, if you'd just follow me" the nurse said.

Kelly nodded and turned to Nick, before following the nurse she gingerly hugged Nick goodbye then gave him one last smile before turning and following the nurse.

Nick watched her retreating figure until she was out of view before leaving the hospital and heading back towards his house.

~End Flashback~

"...I never saw her again after that, and I never called her in fact I burned the number she gave me right outside the hospital then released the ashes into the traveling wind. I couldn't risk my father or someone else finding it and calling her because then they would track her down and kill her" Nick concluded.

John had been listening to his tale with absolute interest. Getting up from the wall he had been leaning against he walked over to John and stood behind him.

"She really got under your skin huh?" Nick let out a breathy laugh and nodded.

"Yeah, she was the first human that I had ever met and she was nothing like how we were led to believe. I'm not saying that all humans are like her but there a great handful of them out there and I believe that they have a right to live as much as we do, maybe even more" Nick turned to face John then abruptly walked by him, heading towards the door.

Without turning John spoke, "The troops will be in top condition when you return" he promised, looking out at the landscape from the window in front of him.

"Thanks John" turning Nick walked out of the building and made his way to where he knew his father stored his many cars.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Greg sat in the middle of the room, still bound to the chair, but his chin was resting against his chest. His eyes were open but they dull and lifeless, no longer possessing the energetic spark they once shone so brightly with. He was a shell of his former self.

"What do we do now?" asked a nearby follower, looking over at the broken seer in the chair.

The hunter casted a glance behind him at Greg then back at the followers in front of him.

"Unbound him and bring him upstairs, we'll discuss it further then" walking past them the hunter exited the room and the creaking of the stairs could be heard as the hunter ascended the stairs up to the first floor.

With only a moment's pause the followers walked over to the chair and unbound Greg then pulled up from the chair. Once he was standing one of them swung Greg's arm around his neck and was then able to walk with Greg's dead weight across the room then out the door and a slow and treacherous journey up the stairs.

Reaching the top floor the followers dragged Greg through the path that was made by followers.

The hunter turned from what he was working on and smiled when he saw that his seer had arrived.

"Excellent, sit him down on that chair over there" pointing to a vacated wooden chair the man supporting Greg did as he was told and set Greg down then backed away, giving the hunter his space without being asked.

Walking towards Greg the hunter stood in front of Greg, lifting his chin to look into his lifeless eyes. Sighing, in what almost seemed disappointment the hunter dropped his chin and shook his head.

"I have to say Gregory, I was hoping breaking you would be more of a challenge...oh well time to get down to business" turning to face his followers he addressed them.

"I have just received word from a reliable source that the wolves are preparing for battle, and it would appear that we have angered their alpha immensely so our plan is coming together quite nicely" he smiled and in return his followers smiled as well.

Walking back over to the table he had been standing at before he picked up small scalpel and held it up to the light, the light reflecting off the shiny metal. Turning around he walked back over to Greg who was in the same state that he had left him. Going back to Greg he knelt down before him and flipped his arm over to reveal his forearm.

"Let's see how gone you really are" placing the sharp end over the forearm presented to him he cut in a straight line across the arm. He watched Greg's facial expression the entire time and saw not even a flash of pain cross his features and his arm didn't attempt to pull away from the pain as one would normally do.

Retracting the blade he stood up and wiped the blood off on his jeans. Pleased with the results he turned his followers.

"Their precious seer is now ours! No longer will he be a tool used against us, but instead a tool to aide us!" he said joyfully, turning he reached for the table in front of him and grabbed a rag then when to Greg and wrapped the rag around the wound and tied it tightly to stop the blood flow.

"Um sir?" asked a hesitant voice, male from the lowness, coming from the group behind him.

Rising, the hunter slowly turned and watched as a young man, looking rugged from spending so long in the wild, step forth until he was a few inches in front of the group he had been a part of.

"Yes?" the hunter asked impatiently, wondering what useless information was going to come forth from this interrupting follower's mouth.

Becoming even more nervous from the clear annoyance in the hunter's voice he stammered his way through what he knew to be a very important question.

"W-well I-I was j-just th-thinking that s-since he's in this s-state h-how are we going t-t-to use him?" he barely managed to get out, he was so terrified of the man before him, the man that he knew could easily kill him so many gruesome ways, that he almost lost his breakfast, lunch and dinner right there.

Surprised by the actual intelligence of the question he was momentarily speechless.

The followers looked to the hunter, obviously wondering how he was going to answer this.

"Bait" he answered, making it sound like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"B-bait sir?" the same man ventured further, still a little confused about the hunter's plans.

"Yes, bait. We are going to use the alpha's urgency to get his mate back against him by bringing him with us when we go to attack them and once the alpha sees his mate bloody, beaten and utterly broken he will lose his right of mind and attack without sense. Now you may believe that this will make him stronger but in fact it will only make him that much easier to kill" he answered, hoping that answered the man's question.

"But I thought we were going to use Greg to find the territory?" asked another follower.

Now this question was the type of question he had been expecting to come from the first man.

Turning his attention to the one who had just asked the question he clearly let them see the annoyance he was feeling.

"We are, and with the state he's in now all we have to do is ask" and as to prove a point the hunter walked around so he was standing behind Greg and leaned down to whisper in his ear,

"Where is your pack's territory?"

Greg lifted his head and spoke.

"Go down route 147 until you come across a dirt road, keeping going until you come across a dirt road. Turn onto the dirt road and get out of the car then walk forward and forward only" Greg answered, his voice emotionless.

"Is the territory cloaked?" the hunter asked.

"Yes, only a member of the pack can see it" Greg replied.

Turning to face his followers he smiled.

"Now that we have a location I want all of you to get training, our adversaries are training as we speak and though we greatly outnumber them with the followers we have coming we still have to be in top condition" eyeing all of the men and women before him he added,

"Get to work"

The followers got into action and began filing out of the cabin.

**A/N: Just so everyone knows this chapter is twenty-two pages long, I wanted to make a long chapter to make up for the time that I spent away from writing this story. I hope you enjoyed it and if you could review I would really appreciate it!**


	12. Chapter 12

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Nick got out of the borrowed vehicle and made sure to have his vest properly secured and his badge on him. He had stop by the lab to get his vest and badge from his locker then made a stop at Greg and his apartment to get his kit.

Walking towards the scene, Nick was hit by the smell of burnt rubber and he almost stumbled back from the intensity of it.

Getting closer he could see Grissom kneeling down on the road collecting evidence from the road, he assumed that it was the area where...the initial impact had happened. He couldn't even think 'where Sara had been blown'.

Showing the uniform his badge he stepped under the tape and walked over to Grissom to get his assigned job. Stopping in front of him he waited for Grissom to finish what he was doing.

"Nick, you finally came" when he spoke Nick could easily detect the sadness in his voice. Though Grissom tried to appear as the man with no emotions, when it came to Sara he was like a fountain of emotions, much like when it came to Greg for Nick.

Grissom noticed Nick's appearance and gathered the last bit of fiber from the road and pushed himself up from the road, his weary bones creaking in protest from being in such an awkward position for so long.

"Yeah, sorry it took so long. I had to find someone to take care of Greg while I'm gone. What do you want me to do?" he asked, watching his boss' expression.

"I need you to go help Warrick locate pieces of the bomb, there scattered everywhere and I want each and every piece collected" Grissom ordered.

Nick nodded his head then looked around until he located Warrick who was walking along the taped off area. The thought of commenting that locating all the pieces of the bomb was almost an impossible task, being that the bomb had blown outwards towards the street, didn't even try to get past his lips. He understood the state of mind Grissom was in and saying something like that was sure to earn him a heated lashing from his boss.

Making his way over to Warrick he set his kit down and put on a pair of latex gloves.

Warrick didn't look up as he continued to locate parts of the bomb.

"You actually showed," he suddenly commented, bending down to place a number tag beside a piece of the bomb then picking the piece up and placing it in an evidence bag.

"You guys needed my help and its Sara, of course I came" beginning to look around Nick went the opposite direction as Warrick.

After a few minutes had gone by, and Nick had managed to bag and tag another piece of the mind Nick asked a question.

"So where's Catherine?" he asked, closely watching the ground for any other pieces of the bomb.

"She's at the hospital with Sara" Warrick answered, taking another picture.

They worked in silence for a few more minutes before Nick spoke again.

"How she doing?" Nick asked, moving closer towards Warrick.

Warrick continued to work as he answered, "she's not getting any worse" he answered bitterly, flashing back to what she looked like when he went to visit her.

They worked in relative silence after that, only speaking when it had to do with the scene.

After working for well over three hours all the pieces of the bomb that they could locate were in evidence bags along with the rest of the evidence they had collected.

As they were walking back towards their respective vehicles Nick had the feeling that he was being watched, stopping he looked first behind him but saw no one of suspicion, then to the left where he still saw no one but it was when he looked to the right he spotted a hooded figure watching him from behind the taped off area, a chill ran down his spine when he saw the smirk appear on the figure's uncovered mouth.

"I'll meet up with you guys at the lab, I'm gonna take another look around" Grissom and Warrick nodded in acknowledgment then continued towards their department vehicle.

Making a show of looking around the scene and kneeling down every once in a while he waited until Grissom and Warrick were gone before walking over to the hooded figure and stepping under the tape. Many of the bystanders had left once the officials started leaving and the excitement had faded so only the hooded figure and a few officials remained.

"It's only going to get worse wolf" the figure said, the voice distinctly male.

The hunter. Nick had suspected that this was the hunter's doing and this was the evidence he needed.

"Leave them out of this! This war is between my pack and the hunter no outsiders need to get hurt" it took all of Nick's self-restraint not to kill the sorry excuse for life in front of him but that would only cause more problems.

"It's not my call, and besides anyone who's friends with wolves are no better than trash in my eyes" the follower sneered, still hiding his identity with his head.

Nick clenched his fists and was very tempted to rip the guy's damn head off but he had to remain in control of himself; he couldn't show that the hunter was getting to him.

"Tell the hunter that when we're out on the battlefield I am going to tare him limb from limb and for every limb I tare off it will be for all the innocent people he's harmed and stealing my mate" glaring daggers into the man's tainted soul Nick stepped back under the tape and walked back to his borrowed vehicle.

"I'll be sure he gets the message!" the follower called after him.

Nick walked back to his truck and tossed his kit and evidence in the back seat then got in the driver's side and sped off towards the lab.

As he was driving back to the lab Nick got his cell out and called John, having retrieved his number when he first met the man.

"Mallard" he answered on the third ring.

"John we have a major problem, hunter is attacking humans now. This isn't just between us anymore, he's bringing the humans into this to mess with my mind. I want you to meet me in the council's chamber in three hours to discuss a game plan, don't be late" Nick ordered.

"No problem, see you then" after hearing the confirmation Nick hung up and tossed his phone on the passenger seat.

He sat in his car, his hands gripping the steering wheel in a vice grip, the bones noticeably popping and grinding but he didn't even notice the pain. His eyes storming from chocolate brown to electric yellow, rage fueling the fire that was emitting from his very soul.

His wolf was howling and clawing underneath his skin, demanding to be released to take it's fury out on the hunter for everything he had done. He was tempted to allow his wolf out and to take out all his un-curable rage out on unsuspecting people but then he thought of Greg, sweet, sweet, innocent loving Greg, his mate would never forgive him if he allowed his inner monster to hurt innocent humans, but the hunter was far from innocent as was his followers.

The thought of Greg invoked over grieving powers over him and he could feel the tears cascading down his face at the thought of what his Greg was going through, he would do anything to switch places with him, anything to take away the pain he knew he must be going through. He had heard the stories, stories about how the hunter would cause his prisoners so much pain that at the end they were begging for death and even if they were rescued they would kill themselves the moment they were able just to get away from the memories that brought on such pain that they would lose their minds.

He could feel the growl rumbling from deep within his chest and his grip only tightened, but still he felt no pain. The urge to release his wolf continued to grow stronger and more appealing with each thought that entered his mind.

Just as he was about to let the monster free it as if by a holy intervention he flashbacked to a moment in his life where he had also been on the verge of setting his wolf loose.

_~Flashback~_

_Nick had just finished up a hard shift at the lab, working a case that involved a little girl who had been brutally murdered after being sexually abused by her own father. It had taken all of his inner strength and resistance not to strangle the man to death as he questioned him in the interrogation room and all that was between him and that sick sonofabitch who did not deserve to live was a metal table. But what really made his blood boil was the fact that the man showed absolutely no remorse for what he had done and in fact had made jokes about it, that was when Nick knew that he had to get out of there before he did something that could compromise the case so he rose from his seat and told the guard that he could take Mr. Mitchells back to his holding cell._

_As he was walking out Mr. Mitchells had one last word to say to Nick,_

_"Best fuck of my life" he said with glee in his voice._

_Stopping in mid-stride Nick turned his head to look back at Mr. Mitchell and was met with the man's psychotic smile. The guard in the room felt the hostility coming from Nick and quickly moved to get Mr. Mitchell up from the chair and led out of the room. _

_Taking a deep breath once the man was gone Nick finally left the room and made his way down the hallway towards the locker room, just wanting to get the hell out of here and get back home. He knew that Greg still had an hour left on his shift due the lab currently being understaffed due to a sudden spread of the flu._

_As he was walking towards the locker room his phone went off and he quickly got the phone from his pocket and answered with a curt "Stokes"_

_"Hey Nicky, I was just calling to let you know that due to the 'miraculous' recovery of Jeremy from swing shift Grissom has allowed me to go home early. Guess Jeremy got caught playing sick, again! I swear that man needs to learn how to lie better or get a new job altogether because I don't know how many more times he's going to get away with ditching before Ecklie fires him" Greg commented, walking towards his car that he had parked in the parking lot of a grocery store._

_"That's great! I just finished my shift too, I can't wait to see you again" Nick said as he entered the locker room and walked over to his locker._

_Greg made it to his car and placed the groceries he had bought for tonight's dinner on the ground as he got his keys out to unlock the trunk of his car._

_"Yeah, I heard about your case...are you okay?" he asked, all ready knowing the answer. He was concerned about his lover, knowing how cases like this affected him. _

_"Honestly? No, I swear babe I was so close to letting my wolf out to get rid of that piece of scum that was trying to pass as a human being but by some greater power I managed to restrain myself and attempt to leave the room but that little fuck just had to have one last word in. God Greg, he treated her like she was garbage, something that wasn't worthy of life and love!" Nick collapsed on the bench in between two rows of lockers and the stinging of tears behind his eyes became too much and slowly trickled down his face. He furiously wiped at his eyes with his free hand but the tears wouldn't dissipate, not that he was expecting them too, in fact he expected the tears to get even more furious._

_Closing the trunk of the car Greg leaned against the back and tried to soothe his lover who was obviously in a very emotional state. _

_"I know that I can never understand the pain of what that innocent little girl went through but I do know that if you attacked that man, even though that man does deserve to burn in hell for all eternity, you would never forgive yourself. You would never forgive yourself if you allowed yourself to become a killer, because you're not! You are a kind, loving, thoughtful and respectful man who I am more than honored to call my mate! But if you killed him out of revenge, hatred or whatever emotion you were feeling you wouldn't have been any better than him. You're not a monster Nick, and with me by your side and with the restraint and compassion I know you possess, you won't become one" Greg said, speaking directly from his heart. Even his eyes were slowly filling with tears from the emotional conversation. _

_Nick didn't know how to respond to Greg's speech, he felt truly loved by the way Greg described him and blessed to have this loving man in his life. He vowed to never succumb to the monster within not only for Greg but for himself because Greg was right, he would never forgive himself if he had attacked that man, even though the man's life deserved to be ended. _

_"Thank you" he spoke, his voice cracking with emotion. _

_"for what?"_

_"Everything. For being you, for actually loving me and for just being there and saying all the right things, even though I don't understand half of the time. Sometimes I wonder how the hell I managed to end up with a guy like you?" Nick spoke, tears no longer of sorrow and pain but from happiness._

_"We both just got really lucky, that and there isn't exactly that many gay wolves that we know of" Greg joked._

_Nick laughed and shook his head, wiping the last of the tears from his eyes. _

_"I love you"_

_"I love you too Nicky"_

_~End Flashback~_

Later than night Greg had shown him just how much he was loved and Nick showed him in return. They didn't leave their bedroom for the rest of the night and it would have been for even longer had Grissom not called them both in.

But that day had shown Nick something, though he knew that he had relatively good control over his wolf it was matters like that case that brought the wolf on the brink and he had to work extra hard just to make sure that he kept the beast under control, even when he felt like the wolf had the right idea of getting rid of the problem.

His thoughts of course led him to think back to Greg and his wolf once again became riled up and he knew that this was going to be one of the very rare times that he allowed his wolf to take the reins.

He made it to the lab a few minutes later, the trip going by in a blur which made him concerned because that showed just how deep in his thoughts he truly was.

Entering the lab he went in and went straight to log in his evidence.

A little while later, as Nick was finishing logging in his evidence he began to wonder how the hunter had known where Sara lived and in consequence he began to worry about whether he knew the rest of his friends lived. There were really only four possible explanations as to how the hunter could possibly know was if he had followed Sara to her house but that couldn't be because Sara was very good since her kidnapping about people following her. It also couldn't be that a follower had followed Greg and himself because they hadn't been to anyone of their friend's houses' in ages leaving the options that the hunter had looked them up in the phone or stolen their personal files, the first one would be too easy for the hunter and by having the personal files the hunter would posses all of their personal information. It had to be the files.

Smiling at the evidence clerk behind the glass window Nick took his evidence and hurried to the layout to drop off the evidence with a confused Warrick then hurried off to Grissom's office.

When he entered his office, without knocking, he found Grissom in his chair with an array of papers in his front of him, most of them looking to be crime scene photos. Grissom looked up at Nick's abrupt entrance and sighed in what looked to be disappointment, maybe hoping he was someone else.

"What can I do for you Nick" he asked, his voice resigned and weary.

Closing the door behind him he walked up to Grissom's desk and remained standing.

"Warrick and I have all the evidence collected in the layout room" he reported, hoping that Grissom didn't catch the way he quickly eyed the file cabinet behind him.

"Good I'll be right there" standing up from his desk he gathered the papers and photos and shuffled them together so they were in a neat pile then walked around the desk and headed for the door. As he was opening the door Nick held back in the doorway. Grissom turned when he noticed that he wasn't being followed.

"I left a piece of evidence in my truck, I'll meet you in the layout room in a few minutes" Nick lied.

With the way Grissom frowned at him, he was afraid that Grissom could see through his lie but then he nodded and headed towards the layout room. When he was out of earshot Nick let out audible sigh of relief and reentered the room and closed the door behind him, along with shutting the blinds so that no one could see what he was up to. Walking over to the cabinet Nick pulled the first drawer open and searched through files, when them found them not to be in that drawer he searched through the other drawers and was only able to come up with Greg's and his own. Unless Grissom had put them elsewhere, which was unlikely, they were missing.

Quickly making sure that the office was in the same state as he had found it he left the office and hurried down the hallway until he came to the A/V Lab. Walking into the lab, his manners almost nonexistent today, he tapped Archie on the shoulder who had his earphones on and was listening to an audio file for another case.

Archie took his headphones off and smiled up at the Texan, setting the phones down and stopping the tape.

"Hey man, what's going on?" he asked, wondering if he wanted him to go over something.

"I need you to show me the lab's security video for the last twenty four hours" Nick requested, noticing the confused look on the A/V lab tech's face he elaborated.

"The door of Sara's apartment building blew up and she's in the ICU" Archie was still confused but horrified at the news of Sara's ordeal.

Turning back to his computer he located the security feed for the lab and searched until he came to the video from the last twenty-four hours.

"Here it is, but why do you need to see this? she wasn't anywhere near here when the explosion happened" he asked starting the video.

Nick debated on telling Archie and decided that he deserved t the truth.

"I think that whoever did this was in the lab and stole not only Sara's files but Grissom, Warrick and Catherine's as well and now he's going to go after the others as well" Nick watched the screen, looking for anyone who didn't belong.

Archie's eyebrows rose in shock and he closed his gaping mouth.

"What about you and Greg's?" he asked, noticing that he hadn't included himself or Greg in that category.

"Stop!' Nick suddenly exclaimed, surprising Archie into almost jumping out of his chair. Looking back at the screen Nick told him to rewind a little until they came to the point where Warrick had bumped into the unknown man. Both stared at the screen intently.

"Could you zoom in a little on this area?" Nick pointed at an area on the screen and Archie zoomed in until Nick told him to stop.

The collision had caused the man's coat to flap open and tucked into the side of the coat was 4 files.

"Shit, that's how he knew" Nick muttered to himself, turning away from the screen Nick rubbed the back of his neck, continuing to mutter to himself.

"That's how who knew?" Archie asked, confused and even a little concerned by Nick's mutterings.

Nick turned back to the screen, "I want a printout of his face and the time stamp" he requested.

Archie did as he said and printed out a picture of the man and handed it to Nick who took one look at the man's photo then folded it into a square and slipped it into his back jean pocket.

Just as Archie was about to ask another question Nick made another request, one that left Archie speechless.

"Delete all traces of this video and photo, I want this to stay between you and me Archie, no one else, not even Grissom can know...especially not Grissom" he muttered the last part and when Archie made no move to do what he asked he repeated himself.

"Delete everything Archie" his voice more serious and demanding.

Archie looked at Nick with a gaping mouth, shock evident in his features.

"Nick I'm not supposed to delete any lab footage without the authorization from Ecklie. I could get in serious trouble man" he responded.

Sighing Nick looked up at the ceiling and spoke, "get out" he said, momentarily surprising Archie.

"What?" he asked, thinking he had heard him wrong.

Nick walked over to the door and pulled it open, "get out, if your are truly afraid of getting in trouble then I'll do it myself" Nick explained gesturing with his hand for Archie to leave.

Archie got up from his seat and walked towards the door, shock still on his face.

Once Archie was gone Nick closed the door and locked the door to insure that no one could come in.

Walking back to the computer Nick sat down at the console and began deleting the video, history of the printing and any trace of the video. When he finished twenty minutes later Nick exited the room and found that Archie had waited outside for him.

"Thanks man" Nick patted him on the back then headed towards the layout room.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Since Greg was no longer a problem the hunter kept him upstairs where he was ordered to help clean guns and load ammunition. Sitting across from Greg was the servant girl who was currently cleaning a Winchester Rifle and would occasionally look up from her work to watch Greg as he diligently worked, all his focus on the job at hand.

She thought back to the wolf Greg used to be, the fighter who fought the hunter every step of the way and mocked the followers but now was reduced to an empty shell of a man who kill himself if ordered.

This caused her sadness, an emotion that she had never allowed anyone to see because she would be yelled and mocked at.

Greg was the only one who had ever tried to befriend her and now he wouldn't even look at her. She had never had a friend before, well a real friend, growing up here she remembered having an imaginary friend she had named Squiggle but long after she had created her friend she was forced to grow up at a tender age of six and as quoted by the hunter "start acting like the servant you are!" After a hard slap across the face she quickly learned her place and never behaved like a child again.

Now that the prospect of having a friend was gone she felt anger towards the hunter, anger for doing what he did to a nice, caring man like Greg into the mindless servant before her. She wondered now if this is what she had looked like to Greg, when he was still his fighting self and she found that yes, she had, it was like looking in a mirror.

She wished that there was something she could do to keep do to help Greg but she knew that helping him would not only bring danger to herself but to him as well. Just watching him work and the blank, lifeless look she was heartbroken to conclude that there was no helping him, Greg was gone, only his shell remained.

"Get back to work!" a voice yelled suddenly, a hand smacked her across the back of her head causing her to cry out in pain. Quickly picking the rifle back up she went back to cleaning it. Sneaking a glance up at Greg she saw him looking at her but instead of the blank expression she saw what looked to be sadness in his eyes but when he caught her staring the blank look was back and he went back to work . Maybe there was hope after all.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Grissom looked at the crime scene photos and evidence from Sara's scene. The case for the shooting at club "Full Moon" had been passed for dayshift, much to the chagrin of Ecklie who was way of letting nightshift handle Sara Sidle's case, knowing how close the group was, but he didn't want to fight Grissom.

Looking at his watch again Grissom noted that 20 minutes had passed and Nick had still returned. He began to wonder what was taking Nick so long and was growing impatient.

Warrick was also secretly watching the clock from the corner of his eye as he sorted through the evidence.

'Where are you Nick" he thought to himself.

As if answering his thoughts Nick appeared in the doorway carrying the forgotten bag of evidence.

"Sorry it took so long the bag fell between the seats and I couldn't see it" he explained, entering the room and placing the evidence on the table.

Grissom didn't bother responding and Warrick just nodded his head in understanding.

Nick snuck a glance at the clock and saw that it was 1:15, giving him some time to help with the case.

"What do we have so far?" Nick asked, pulling on a pair of latex gloves and carefully examined the bomb a piece of the bomb.

Warrick cleared his throat from lack of speaking for so long and straightened himself out of his leaning position.

"Nothing much, I've been going through the evidence we collected and so far no fingerprints, no DNA and no suspects" Warrick reported, irritated at not having anything to go on to help them find who had blown up Sara.

Looking at the spreadsheet of evidence before him, Nick could tell that Grissom and Warrick would never figure out who had hurt Sara without his help.

"So basically we have absolutely nothing and no idea who did this" Nick summed up.

A sudden bang startled the two men and turned to Grissom to see that many of the photos were now scattered on the floor and his hand that was splaying on the table was shaking.

No one spoke. No one breathed.

Without another word Grissom stormed from the room, leaving Nick and Warrick in a tension filled atmosphere.

Warrick looked away from the doorway to Nick who was looking down at the table.

"We need to find out who did this! Grissom's all ready on the verge of a major breakdown and if that happens Ecklie's going to take us off the case and then the case will never get solved" Warrick stated.

Nick didn't look up, shame and guilt weighing down his very being because he knew was responsible for the bomb but was unable to share the information.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~N+G~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

_**~Grissom~**_

He made his way down the hallway towards his office and from the labtechs that he passed they could see the message he was emitting which was "don't talk to me" and they quickly got out of his way.

Entering his office, in a fit of rage, he slammed the door behind him and stalked over to his desk and slumped down in the chair. Blindly reaching for one of the drawers he pulled it open and reached in to pull out a picture frame. The frame was made out of wood with intricate carvings of bugs ingrained into the wood. Bringing the picture in front of him he delicately ran a hand across the picture of Sara. The picture had been taking by Grissom when he had taken her out on their first real date, granted it had only been a smaller diner that had barely edible food, but with their work times it was best they could do. A patron of the restaurant had been surprisingly kind and had taken a picture of Sara with an old Polaroid camera and had given it to him. She had said that with that picture I could take her anywhere.

The normally emotionless man felt tears building in his eyes and no matter how much he tried to restrain the tears came out and bathed his cheeks in salty water.

"I will find out who did this Sara, and when I do they are going to pay!" hatred and uncontrollable rage consumed him.

Setting the picture down Grissom laid his down and closed his eyes, an image of Sara laughing and smiling filled his mind and he snapped his eyes open to get rid of the mental image of happiness but the pain remained.

A sudden knock on his door caught his attention and he summoned the visitor inside. The door opened and Archie's head popped through the opening then came in all the way and closed the door behind him.

"What seems to be the trouble Archie" Grissom asked.

Archie ran a hand through his hair and walked up to Grissom's desk but did not sit down.

"Grissom there's something I've got to tell you and I know I should have told you sooner but-" Grissom held up his hand, effectively stopping Archie's rambling.

"Archie calm down, your beginning to sound like Greg" he commented, lowering his hand.

Taking a moment to compose himself Archie restarted, even taking a seat.

"I was going over a security video for dayshift when Nick comes in and asks to see the security video of the lab last night" Archie paused to take another deep breath before continuing.

"We went through the video until it came to a point where Warrick accidentally bumped into this guy. He suddenly told me to pause it and to zoom in on what was inside the coat and he...he said it was Sara's personal file. He told me to print out a picture of the man's face then delete all traces of the video and the printed picture. I told him that I couldn't so he told me to leave my land and he would do it himself" he concluded, not meeting Grissom's eye.

Grissom was silent, the only sound was the air vents circulating air throughout the building.

"Grissom?" Archie asked uncertainly. Feeling as if a major bomb was about to be dropped.

Rising from his desk Grissom spoke in a calm collected voice but the energy around him was anything but calm.

"I couldn't keep this from you any longer, I see the way this case is affecting you and I knew you needed a lead" Archie followed with his eyes as Grissom walked to his door and pulled the door open and walked out.

Archie sat in silence for a few moments until he exhaled and spoke.

"Something tells me I just released a lion on Nick" quickly standing up he left the room ad went after Grissom.

_**~Nick~**_

Nick was rifling through the photos taken when Grissom marched into the room and stood before him , a glare darkening his features and fury bubbling at the surface.

"Give me the picture Nick" he demanded, his voice deadly calm.

Nick was confused for a moment until Archie appeared in the doorway, a guilty look on his face and then he knew what picture Grissom wanted.

"I'm sorry Griss but I can't" Nick replied, the picture in his pocket feeling a 1000 tons.

Grissom's features darkened and without warning lashed out and grabbed Nick by the collar of his shirt and slammed him down on the table. Nick was moderately surprised by Grissom's strength and he had to fight his natural instinct to fight back because he knew that if he fought back he would kill Grissom.

The rage flamed in Grissom's eyes as he stared down Nick, his grip on Nick' shirt tightening. Warrick moved to get Grissom off but Nick shook his head at him.

"I can't give you the picture, you won't think rationally and you'll do something you'll regret so do whatever you want to me, arrest me, beat me to a bloody pulp but do not ask me to give you that picture" Nick implored but he could tell that the wasn't getting through to him.

Staring up into Grissom's eyes Nick's eyes slowly began to change color. The sudden change of eye color startled Grissom and he released Nick, taking a step back.

Nick pulled himself up from the table his eyes returned to normal.

"Sara will be avenged Grissom, I promise you" walking away from him Nick made for the door,

"I'll be back in a few hours" and just like that he left the two men and headed for the parking lot.

**A/N: This chapter would have been longer but there were a few issues with the rest of it so I'm saving it for the next chapter which I will not promise will come any quicker than this one did. Sorry for the delay and please review!**


End file.
